1. First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lim Sung-nam will attend the second Republic of Korea-US-Japan vice foreign ministerial meeting in Tokyo, Japan, on January 16. US Deputy Secretary of State Blinken and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Saiki will participate in the meeting.

2. In the upcoming meeting, the three sides will hold in-depth policy discussions regarding North Korea and its nuclear issue, and ways to cooperate on major regional and global issues, as they did in the first ROK-US-Japan vice foreign ministerial meeting. In particular, the forthcoming meeting, to be held amid the grave situation created by the latest nuclear test by North Korea, is expected to serve as an opportunity for a higher level discussion on ways for the three countries to work together, following the meeting among the chief negotiators of the ROK, the US and Japan for the Six-Party Talks in Seoul on January 13.

3. The ROK government is also reviewing the possibility of holding a bilateral vice foreign ministerial meeting between the ROK and the US, and between the ROK and Japan, separately, on the sidelines of the upcoming ROK-US-Japan meeting.


*unofficial translation