Department of Defense spokesperson Lt. Col. Martin Meiners provided the following readout:
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, Japan Director General for Defense Policy Masuda Kazuo, and Republic of Korea (ROK) Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Heo Tae-keun conducted a trilateral call on October 6, 2022, to discuss concrete ways to address the threats posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The defense officials strongly condemned the recent ballistic missile launches by the DPRK as violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions and reaffirmed the importance of trilateral security cooperation to address regional security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. In addition, they committed to support their respective ministers in the next Trilateral Ministerial Meeting (TMM) on a mutually determined future date.