US calls for closer South Korea-Japan defence ties amid ‘unprecedented’ China-North threat
Visit by General Dan Caine, top US military officer, comes amid growing calls in Washington for South Korea to shoulder more defence costs
“Our focus in the United States remains on re-establishing deterrence and doing so needs and requires the trilateral cooperation between our three countries,” Caine said at a meeting on Friday with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Admiral Kim Myung-soo and General Yoshihide Yoshida, in Seoul.
“The DPRK [North Korea] and China are undergoing an unprecedented military build-up with a clear and unambiguous intent to move forward with their own agendas,” he added.
Following the meeting, the three military leaders issued a joint statement condemning Pyongyang’s “unlawful” weapons development and reaffirming efforts to work towards the complete denuclearisation of North Korea.