South Korea, the United States and Japan will discuss how to respond to future North Korean provocations and China’s role in addressing the evolving threats from the recalcitrant regime during their trilateral senior-level diplomatic talks this week, a Seoul official said Wednesday.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun made the remarks as he arrived at a U.S. airport to attend the three-way talks slated to take place in Little Washington, Virginia on Friday. He will join Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano at the meeting.

The high-profile meeting follows Pyongyang’s failed launch of a military reconnaissance satellite on Monday. The three countries see the launch as a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions banning any launch using ballistic missile technology.

“As the three countries immediately held consultations over the North’s satellite launch and issued statements to condemn it, we will discuss the North’s movements thereafte
r, and how the three countries will respond in the event of additional provocations,” Kim said upon arrival at Dulles International Airport near Washington.

The three sides will also talk about how to elicit China’s cooperation in addressing North Korea-related issues, he added.

“The three countries have the shared feeling that China’s role is important when it comes to Korean Peninsula issues as well as North Korea’s nuclear problem,” the vice minister said.

Kim also said that the trilateral meeting will touch on efforts to find an alternative to the now-disbanded U.N. expert panel charged with monitoring the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea.

The panel’s mandate ended last month as Russia vetoed a UNSC resolution meant to extend it in a vote in March, where China abstained.

The three sides are also expected to discuss the outcome of the trilateral summit that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang held in Seoul on Monday.

On
Friday morning, Kim is set to hold a bilateral meeting with Campbell, according to the State Department. On Thursday, Campbell and Okano are set to attend the inaugural meeting of the vice-ministerial U.S.-Japan Strategic Diplomacy and Development Dialogue.

Source: Yonhap News Agency