Seoul: South Korea, the United States, and Japan have officially launched a secretariat dedicated to trilateral cooperation, as announced by Seoul's foreign ministry. This development follows the leaders' summit last week, where the establishment of the secretariat was initially revealed. According to Yonhap News Agency, the creation of the Trilateral Secretariat was discussed during the summit held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru. This move is part of an agreement made at the Camp David summit in August of the previous year between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden, and then Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The establishment of the secretariat marks a significant step in advancing the commitments shared by the three nations. These commitments focus on enhancing trilateral coordination and cooperation, particularly in addressing common challenges such as North Korea's military threats. The inaugural meeting for the secretariat took place in Seoul and was led by Lee Won-woo, deputy director general for North American affairs at South Korea's 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 at Japan's foreign ministry. The role of the secretary general and the operation of the secretariat will rotate between the three countries every two years, beginning with South Korea, followed by the U.S. and Japan. During Wednesday's meeting, the nations reviewed the progress of trilateral cooperation since the Camp David summit and discussed the structure and operational plans for the secretariat. South Korea has committed to working with the U.S. and Japan to coordinate ongoing projects in areas such as security, the economy, advanced technology, and people-to-people exchanges. The goal is to institutionalize and foster the continuous development of trilateral cooperation, as stated by the foreign ministry. The leaders of the three nations, including South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, previously met for trilateral talks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru.