[Anchor]

The chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from South Korea, the United States, and Japan met in Seoul to discuss ways to strengthen military cooperation.

In particular, the United States mentioned the military buildup of China along with North Korea, indicating that the military response scope of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan should include China.

Reporter Yoon Jin has the story.

[Report]

Following their meeting in Tokyo last July, the chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from South Korea, the U.S., and Japan met again.

The three countries condemned North Korea's nuclear and missile development and agreed to continue cooperating for the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

[Kim Myung-soo/Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "As the threat of North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities intensifies and security challenges in the region persist, we will maintain the momentum of security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan."]

What caught attention was the statement made by U.S. Chairman Dan Caine.

He began by noting that discussions at their first meeting 11 years ago were limited to the threats posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities.

He then mentioned both North Korea and China, stating that the "rebuilding" of deterrence is a top priority for the United States.

[Dan Caine/U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: "The DPRK and China are ongoing unprecedented military buildup with clear and unambiguous intent to move forward with their own agendas."]

It appears there is an intention to expand the scope of military cooperation from North Korea to include China.

Japan's Chief of Staff emphasized the institutionalization of trilateral cooperation to avoid being swayed by political situations during his visit to South Korea for the first time in 15 years.

The chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited the Navy's 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek and paid tribute to the 46 fallen soldiers of the Cheonan incident.

This is interpreted as a clear message to stand together against provocations from North Korea.

On the day the chairmen promised to strengthen cooperation, the three countries conducted a joint air exercise in the southern waters off Jeju.

Among the U.S.'s three strategic bombers, the B-52H was deployed to the Korean Peninsula for the first time this year, flying alongside South Korean and Japanese fighter jets.

This is KBS News, Yoon Jin.

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