South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun meets in Turkey with top counterparts from the United States and Japan on the sidelines of a NATO summit, Seoul’s foreign ministry says. Cho is scheduled to hold trilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Ankara. The talks focus on North Korea-related issues and regional and global affairs, as well as ways to strengthen trilateral security cooperation and expand economic cooperation.
The ministry says the Ankara meetings follow a prior trilateral engagement in October at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea. Separately, Cho also holds bilateral discussions with Motegi in Turkey, where both sides reaffirm efforts to deepen South Korea–Japan ties and broaden cooperation that also involves the United States. The two sides cite “shuttle diplomacy” between their leaders as a factor supporting coordination across multiple sectors.
The NATO summit in Turkey runs Tuesday and Wednesday, with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung attending at the invitation of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, according to Seoul. The trilateral gathering is presented as a continuation of recent minister-level coordination among the three countries.
