Kuala lumpur: South Korea, the United States, and Japan are in the process of organizing trilateral discussions involving their senior diplomats in Malaysia, as reported by diplomatic sources. The meeting is set to occur on the sidelines of the multilateral gatherings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the discussions, if confirmed, will involve South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. The countries are currently fine-tuning the specifics for this potential meeting.
The planned discussions come amidst ongoing negotiations between Seoul and Washington concerning significant U.S. tariffs, which have implications for key South Korean industries and are also influencing Japan. This meeting would be the first high-level engagement among these nations' senior diplomats since the inauguration of the Lee Jae Myung administration in June, highlighting their dedication to maintaining their trilateral partnership established under former governments.
Park Yoon-joo is expected to attend the talks as a representative for the foreign minister, whose nomination is pending parliamentary confirmation.