South Korea, the United States, and Japan agreed on Thursday to actively cooperate in implementing security policies for vital infrastructure as part of their ongoing efforts to enhance economic security.
South Korea’s presidential office announced that representatives from the three nations convened the fourth meeting of the Economic Security Dialogue in San Diego. South Korea’s third deputy director of national security, Wang Yun-jong, held trilateral discussions with Tarun Chhabra, the senior director for technology and national security on the White House National Security Council, and Yasuo Takamura, a cabinet councilor from Japan’s National Security Secretariat.
According to the statement, the three representatives explored ways to strengthen collaboration in four key areas: infrastructure, data, crucial and emerging technologies, and supply chains. They agreed to proactively work together on implementing protective measures to secure vital infrastructure. Additionally, they will closely collaborate on joint research in emerging technologies and share countermeasures for data protection challenges.
The presidential office noted that the three nations agreed to enhance cooperation in securing technologies and expanding information sharing between their enforcement agencies, having as their core the Disruptive Technology Protection Network. Launched in April 2023 following the Camp David summit, the Disruptive Technology Protection Network was instituted to facilitate collaboration among like-minded nations with the aim of protecting their sensitive technologies from potential threats. The Network held its first high-level trilateral summit in Washington, D.C., on the day of its foundation.
The presidential office added that the fifth trilateral meeting will take place later this year. The Economic Security Dialogue was first held in February 2023 after the leaders of the three countries agreed to establish new channels of collaboration at the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2022. In the statement, the three leaders emphasized that they “will stand together to promote and protect our technology leadership, for the benefit of the region and the world.”
