Officials from the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea met in Tokyo on August 27 and 28 for the fourth session of their Trilateral Diplomatic Working Group. The meeting focused on countering cyber threats linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The U.S. delegation was led by Jonathan Fritz, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Miyake Fumito, Japanese Ambassador in charge of Cyber Policy, represented Japan, while Baek Yoon Jeong, Deputy Director General for International Security and Korean Peninsula Policy at South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed the ROK delegation. The gathering included representatives from 19 government agencies across the three countries.
Participants reviewed progress in efforts to disrupt North Korea’s capacity to generate and move funds through cyber activities, IT workers abroad, and third-party facilitators. These funds are reportedly used to support unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.
According to a joint statement: “Through the working group, the United States of America, Japan, and the ROK continue to coordinate on a wide range of trilateral actions, including efforts to restrict DPRK actors’ access to key jurisdictions in which they generate revenue and prevent private sector companies from being exploited by DPRK targeting. The three sides also discussed future engagement with the AI industry, autonomous sanctions, and law enforcement cooperation.”
Future plans include further collaboration with artificial intelligence firms as well as continued development of sanctions policy and law enforcement partnerships.
