U.S. State Department holds a meeting with U.S. ambassadors from Asia and the Pacific in Japan... Japan "emphasizes U.S.-Japan alliance"

Before visiting the Ministry of Japan and Foreign Affairs, we also held our own meeting... It appears that pending issues such as U.S.-China-North Korea-U.S. relations were discussed.

(Tokyo = Yonhap News) Correspondent Cho Sung-mi = It is known that senior officials of the U.S. State Department and U.S. ambassadors to major countries in the Asia-Pacific gathered in Japan to hold talks with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and hold their own meetings to discuss regional issues and alliance relationships.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 10th, U.S. ambassadors to the Indo-Pacific region and U.S. government officials met with Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 8th.

Attending the meeting were Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Ellison Hooker, State Department Advisor Daniel Holler, U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass, U.S. Ambassador to Korea Michelle Steel, and U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue, who are known to play a key role in diplomacy toward Asia, including Korea.

Kevin Kim, U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), U.S. ambassadors to Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, New Zealand, and Australia, and the head of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which serves as the U.S. embassy in Taiwan, were also present.

Foreign Minister Motegi said, "As the security environment becomes increasingly stringent, the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance is growing," and said he would work with the U.S. to realize the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)," the Japanese government's Asia-Pacific policy philosophy.

In addition, in relation to the recent robbery and murder of a U.S. soldier in Okinawa, we requested to prevent a recurrence.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the U.S. participants expressed America's firm commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and emphasized the role of the U.S.-Japan alliance and the importance of cooperation between like-minded countries in the region.

Prior to the meeting with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, U.S. State Department officials and U.S. ambassadors to Asia and the Pacific reportedly held their own meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to discuss regional security issues and the regional situation.

At this meeting, it is expected that responses to regional issues, such as the US-China summit expected to be held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Shenzhen, China in November, and the possibility of a North Korea-US summit, to which President Donald Trump shows enthusiasm, were discussed.

Given that Samuel Puffaro, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, and Stephen Jost, commander of U.S. Forces in Japan, were present, there are speculations that the security situation surrounding countries in the region, including North Korea, China, and Russia, was also discussed.

In some quarters, given that concerns are being raised about disharmony between South Korea and the United States intelligence authorities, it is being discussed that pending issues between South Korea and the United States may also be on the topic of discussion.