The top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of a multilateral gathering in Malaysia on Friday to discuss cooperation and share views on regional and global issues.

First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on the margins of the foreign ministers’ meetings hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to the foreign ministry in Seoul.

Park participated in the talks on behalf of the foreign minister as the appointment process for Foreign Minister nominee Cho Hyun is still in progress, underscoring the importance the three countries have placed on their partnership.

This high-level meeting, the first among senior diplomats from all three sides since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration in June, addressed North Korea’s cyber and nuclear threats, and was also expected to include discussions on China’s military buildup in the Indo-Pacific region.

The three representatives reaffirmed their unflinching goal of North Korea's complete denuclearization, and agreed to maintain their strong deterrence against the North based on their close cooperation.

The three sides also agreed to continue close communication at all levels and to make every effort toward concrete results in their trilateral cooperation. 

The ministry did not comment on whether there were discussions regarding the ongoing negotiations on U.S. tariffs.