South Korea's Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul on Monday ruled out the possibility of Japan taking part in a nuclear consultative group between Seoul and Washington for bolstering nuclear deterrence against Pyongyang's military threats.
Shin made the remarks in a media interview earlier in the day amid speculation over Tokyo possibly joining the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) that Seoul and Washington agreed to form during their leaders' summit last month.
"The NCG is a consultative body that increases cooperation between South Korea and the United States for extended deterrence against North Korea's nuclear threats to the highest level," Shin said in a CBS radio interview. "The NCG itself is operated between South Korea and the U.S."
Japan has been interested in creating a body akin to the NCG, but Shin said he was unaware of progress on such talks between Tokyo and Washington.
"I don't think there will be a sudden move to include Japan in the NCG in the next summit talks," he said.
The comments came a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to strengthen trilateral cooperation to bolster deterrence against threats from Pyongyang during their meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.
Shin also said efforts are being made to hold a trilateral defense ministerial meeting with Beijing and Tokyo by the end of this year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency