SEOUL, July 2 (Yonhap) -- The chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed to work closely together to resolve North Korea's nuclear issues, the JCS here said Wednesday.
The pledge to boost military coordination against North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities came during the talks in Hawaii on Tuesday between Adm. Choi Yun-hee from South Korea, Gen. Martin Dempsey from the U.S. and Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki from Japan.
It marks the first time for the three chiefs to gather in person, although they have had several video conferences, with the latest one taking place last year. The U.S. has invited the two Asian countries to the talks, according to the officers.
The Tuesday meeting was held at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies building on the sidelines of the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise, or RIMPAC.
"The three JCS chairman discussed the regional security circumstances including North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," the South Korean JCS said in a release.
"They in particular agreed that a close trilateral coordination is needed to resolve North Korea's nuclear problems which cannot be neglected anymore," it added.
The chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea, the United States and Japan -- Adm. Choi Yun-hee, Gen. Martin Dempsey and Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki -- hold talks in Hawaii on July 1, 2014 (local time) to discuss regional security issues including North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities. (Yonhap)
Officers here said the meeting served as an opportunity for the allies to boost necessary military cooperation amid growing threat by North Korea at a time when soured Seoul-Tokyo relations have effectively hampered bilateral cooperation in almost all fields.
North Korea has ratcheted up tensions on the Korean Peninsula by firing off rockets in succession and threatening to carry out a fourth round of nuclear test.
But the talks may become a source of criticism here as it came on the heels of Japan's decision to exercise the right to collective self-defense, which empowers the country to fight along its allies and beyond its borders.
The already strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo have further worsened, as Japan has made attempts to whitewash its wartime atrocities. The Korean Peninsula was under the harsh colonial rule of Japan from 1910-45.
"Admiral Choi has made it clear that Japan's self-defense right cannot be exercised without South Korea's explicit consent in cases affecting Korea's security and interests, and General Dempsey, General Iwasaki and Adm. Samuel Locklear who serves as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command all agreed upon it," the JCS stressed.
Critics have denounced Japan's move to exercise the right as a precursor to ultimately amending the country's pacifist Constitution. Seoul and Beijing view the move warily as it calls to mind Japan's past militarism and concerns that the power could be misused.
The JCS also noted that a trilateral deal to share military intelligence was not among the agenda for the talks, as the issue is not a decision for the military to make.
During a trilateral security meeting in Singapore in May, the defense chiefs reached a consensus on the necessity of sharing military intelligence to better deal with threats from North Korea.
A deal to share military intelligence between the three faced difficulty as Seoul-Tokyo relations remain soured. The bilateral military intelligence pact was reached between Seoul and Washington, and between Tokyo and Washington, but not between Seoul and Tokyo.
The biennial RIMPAC kicked off on June 26 to run until Aug. 1, on and around the Hawaiian Islands, bringing together 23 countries including South Korea, China and Brunei to take part in the international maritime exercise for the first time, according to the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
(2nd LD) S. Korean, U.S., Japanese joint chiefs vow close cooperation against N.K. nuke
