Rubio Meets Japanese and South Korean Foreign Ministers at G20
The U.S., Japan and South Korea agree to a new Arctic maritime partnership and reaffirm their stance against North Korea's nuclear threat.
Key points
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea on the sidelines of the G20 in Atlanta.
- They signed a memorandum of cooperation for a Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership (TAPP).
- They reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea.
- They also addressed the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and Russia-China cooperation.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Thursday, October 30, 2026, with Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on the sidelines of the G20 in Atlanta. The meeting was used to review progress in the three countries' partnership on security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
During the meeting, the three officials signed a Memorandum of Cooperation for a Trilateral Arctic Pacific Partnership (TAPP), which aims to explore maritime cooperation and economic collaboration in the Pacific Arctic.
The foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and to full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, including the ban on generating revenue that funds its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. They also praised the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) for exposing violations and evasions of those resolutions.
They also stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Rubio additionally raised China's efforts to assert control over the South China Sea, its coercive behavior in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea, and Russia-China cooperation, which Washington says undermines peace in the Indo-Pacific.
The three countries stressed economic security and rejected economic coercion and the weaponization of supply chains. They reviewed implementation of the trilateral memorandum on deploying small modular reactors, signed in Ankara on July 7, and discussed areas of economic security cooperation identified at the trilateral consultation held in Seoul on October 15.
Finally, the officials reaffirmed the commitments in the trilateral joint statement issued on September 21, 2026, and agreed to continue holding trilateral meetings at all levels.