Seoul: South Korea, the United States, and Japan have officially launched a secretariat dedicated to trilateral cooperation, as confirmed by Seoul's foreign ministry. This establishment follows the announcement made during the leaders' summit held last week. The secretariat's creation marks a significant step towards fulfilling commitments shared during the summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru. According to Yonhap News Agency, the foundation of the Trilateral Secretariat was part of an agreement reached between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden, and then Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David summit in August of the previous year. The secretariat aims to strengthen three-way coordination and cooperation against common challenges, notably addressing North Korea's military threats. The operation of the secretariat will rotate every two years among the three nations, beginning with South Korea, followed by the United State s and Japan. During the meeting on Wednesday, representatives from the three countries evaluated the progress in trilateral cooperation since the Camp David summit and discussed the structure and operational plans for the secretariat. South Korea's foreign ministry expressed its commitment to working with the United States and Japan to coordinate ongoing projects in sectors such as security, economy, advanced technology, and people-to-people exchanges. The objective is to institutionalize and promote the continuous development of trilateral cooperation. The inaugural meeting for the secretariat's launch took place in Seoul, led by Lee Won-woo, deputy director general for North American affairs at the South Korean foreign ministry; Robert Koepcke, U.S. deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs; and Akihiro Okochi, deputy director general for Asian and Oceanian affairs of Japan's foreign ministry.