US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Motegi Toshimitsu and Cho Hyun, on the margins of UN General Assembly high-level week in New York on 21-22 September 2026, launching a new trilateral consultation on economic security and reaffirming a shared position on North Korea. The meeting came just days before President Donald Trump’s state summit with China’s Xi Jinping, a timing that analysts said was designed to project a united allied front ahead of the encounter.
A new front against economic coercion
In their joint statement, the three governments said they would stand firm against “economic coercion” and “non-market policies and practices” that produce harmful industrial overcapacity and distort markets, including arbitrary export restrictions that disrupt global supply chains. They agreed to strengthen an existing trilateral Supply Chain Early Warning System and to deepen cooperation on advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, digital infrastructure and biotechnology, while also working to bolster energy security through measures such as expanded oil stockpiles.
North Korea and Taiwan Strait language
The ministers reaffirmed their “resolute commitment to the complete denuclearisation” of North Korea and said “the path to dialogue remains open,” urging Pyongyang to return to talks, while the US repeated its “ironclad” defence commitments to both Seoul and Tokyo. The statement also included language reinforcing support for stability across the Taiwan Strait, one of two sensitive topics, alongside trade practices, that the allies chose to stake out a position on just before Trump’s meeting with Xi.
Why it matters
The launch of a standing economic security dialogue formalises what had been ad hoc coordination between the three allies and signals they intend to keep pressing China on trade practices and Taiwan even as Washington pursues warmer high-level contacts with Beijing. Whether the new consultation produces concrete joint measures, rather than just statements, will determine how much practical weight it carries.
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