Three-way talks held in Washington

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) talks on Sunday and issued a joint declaration stating that they hoped for continued positive efforts toward maintaining and promoting the current atmosphere of improved ties between North Korea and the three nations. According to the joint declaration, South Korea reported on the results of the various inter-Korean talks while Japan elaborated on its decision to provide food aid for the North and the U.S. revealed its intentions for the North-U.S. talks slated for New York with the visit of Cho Myong-Rok, first vice chairman of the North Korean National Defense Commission.

The three parties agreed that inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation, the easing of tensions between the North and the U.S., and improved North-Japan ties would serve as the nucleus for stability and peace on the Korean peninsula. They confirmed that the three nations would work closely together in their adoption of policies toward the North. South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Jang Jai-Ryong, U.S. State Department counselor Wendy Sherman and Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Policy Yukio Takeuchi attended the meeting.