In brief
During a G20 side event in Atlanta on October 30, 2026, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi reaffirmed a "resolute commitment" to the complete denuclearization of North Korea. They highlighted the need to enforce U.N. sanctions and signed a memorandum establishing a Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership to explore maritime and economic collaboration. While the declaration was emphatic, no concrete timeline or detailed enforcement strategy was disclosed.
The foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States and Japan met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 in Atlanta on Friday, October 30, 2026. They reaffirmed their commitment to the full and complete denuclearization of North Korea, as noted by the U.S. State Department in a readout of the meeting.
Cho Hyun, the South Korean foreign minister, shared the same resolve with Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, and Toshimitsu Motegi, the Japanese foreign minister. All three stressed the importance of fully implementing United Nations Security Council resolutions and enforcing sanctions that prohibit activities generating revenue for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The ministers praised the work of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team for exposing North Korea’s sanctions violations and evasion. In addition, they underscored the need to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and called for serious attention to China’s actions in the South China Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea.
Rubio also raised concerns about cooperation between Russia and China – which Washington says undermines peace and stability in the Indo‑Pacific. He reiterated the United States’ insistence on upholding the security architecture of the region.
During the meeting, the trio signed a memorandum of cooperation creating a Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership, or TAPP. The partnership will explore potential maritime cooperation and economic partnerships in the Pacific Arctic, a region of growing strategic importance as Arctic sea routes become more accessible.
The signing of the TAPP memorandum was described as the first formal step toward a broader economic and maritime collaboration among the three countries during a period of heightened uncertainty in the region.
