The key facts

  • A memorandum of cooperation on the Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership (TAPP) was signed
  • The ministers reaffirmed their course toward the denuclearization of the DPRK and the full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions
  • Progress was discussed on the memorandum on small modular reactors signed in Ankara in July

Trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Atlanta, USA. The parties reviewed the progress of trilateral cooperation and discussed regional security challenges, economic resilience, and energy cooperation, Anadolu reports.

New Arctic agreement

The main practical outcome of the meeting was the signing of a memorandum of cooperation under the Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership (TAPP). As the US State Department stated, the document is aimed at exploring maritime cooperation and economic partnership in the Pacific Arctic. It is a separate arrangement complementing previously signed trilateral documents: in July, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, the parties had already concluded a memorandum on the deployment of small modular reactors (SMR), and at the meeting in Atlanta they reviewed its implementation.

Security and economy

The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the denuclearization of the DPRK and called for the full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions. They also emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. According to the State Department, Rubio raised the issue of China's attempts to establish control in the South China Sea. Economic security featured prominently in the talks: all three parties spoke out against economic coercion and the 'weaponization' of supply chains.