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| ▲ This compilation image shows President Yoon Suk-yeol (L), U.S. President Joe Biden (C) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) S Korea-US-Japan summit
(LEAD) Yoon stresses importance of S. Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation amid N.K. threats
(ATTN: UPDATES with remarks by Yoon, details in paras 1-7; CHANGES headline)
By Lee Haye-ah
MADRID, June 29 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday that trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan has become ever more important in the face of North Korea's growing nuclear threat and increased instability in the world.
Yoon made the remark at the start of a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Madrid.
"With North Korea's nuclear and missile threats becoming more sophisticated and increased instability in international affairs, the importance of cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan has become even greater," he said.
"Through this meeting, I look forward to cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan establishing itself as an important central axis for world peace and stability," he added.
Biden said in his opening remarks that trilateral cooperation is critical in achieving the three countries' shared objectives, including the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
He also said there is ongoing concern about a possible nuclear test by North Korea.
The meeting was the first of its kind in nearly five years after the last one held on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September 2017.
South Korea and Japan have seen their relations deteriorate in recent years due to protracted rows over historical issues stemming from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Washington has sought to encourage trilateral cooperation amid North Korea's nuclear threats and growing security and economic challenges from China.
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