Plans to form a trilateral nuclear umbrella entity

U.S. Ambassador to Korea Philip Goldberg remarked on Monday regarding establishing a trilateral nuclear umbrella entity among Korea, the U.S., and Japan that “the heads of state will meet to discuss these issues in Washington in the very near future.”

In an interview with The Dong-A Ilbo held at the official residence of the U.S. ambassador in Jung-gu, Seoul, Ambassador Goldberg replied that “either is possible, which should be determined by the leaders,” in reply to a question whether the new security consultative group among Korea, the U.S., and Japan would take the form of including Japan in the Korea-U.S. NCS. Goldberg said that “nothing is ruled out about the trilateral consultative group. Let’s see what happens.”

The U.S. ambassador emphasized that the trilateral summit between the three countries, proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday to the heads of state of Korea and Japan, would be “an upgrade (of trilateral cooperation).” He also said that “cooperation between the three countries is needed for the Korean peninsula and overall security reinforcement of the Indo-Pacific region. The meeting of the three leaders in Washington would play a positive role in strengthening real-time information sharing of missile alerts.”

The Korean Presidential Office is considering the possibility of the summit being held in July or August. “It would be difficult for the three heads of state to meet in Washington due to the UN general assembly and other multilateral meetings,” said Kim Tae-hyo of the National Security Office, hinting that a separate date could be set up for the three countries.

When asked whether Korea should participate in the Anti-coercion Instrument to be launched at the G7 summit that closed on Sunday, Goldberg answered that it was a matter to be decided by Korea. “However, as a democracy, Korea is a country of order based on rules and principles. If China ignores decisions based on rules and international order, we shall not pay a blind eye to this,” he said. His remarks are suggestive of Korea’s need for participation.


Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com · Na-Ri Shin journari@donga.com