Kim Myung-soo, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks by phone with his US counterpart Gen. Dan Caine on May 20. (South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Top military commanders from South Korea, the United States and Japan are expected to meet in Seoul next week to discuss issues related to North Korea, including its nuclear weapons program and recent missile provocations.
According to South Korea’s military on Thursday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Myung-soo will host his US counterpart, Gen. Dan Caine, and Japan’s Chief of Staff, Joint Staff Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, for a trilateral meeting in Seoul on July 10 and 11.
The meeting marks the first visit to Seoul by Gen. Caine, who assumed the post in April, since the start of the Lee Jae Myung administration. It also comes nearly a year after the previous trilateral meeting was held in Tokyo on July 18, 2024. The last visit by a US Joint Chiefs chairman to Seoul was in November 2023.
The gathering comes amid growing speculation that Washington may ask Seoul to increase its contribution to the cost of stationing US forces on the Korean Peninsula or propose adjustments to the role of US troops — similar to how NATO allies have recently expanded their defense budgets in response to calls from US President Donald Trump for greater cost-sharing.
Reflecting these concerns, Caine said during his confirmation hearing in April that, if confirmed, he would review the scale of US forces deployed in South Korea and Japan and submit recommendations to the secretary of defense and the president.
South Korea’s military, meanwhile, has dismissed such speculation, stating, “The agenda of the meeting is strictly limited to trilateral military cooperation and responses to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.” As of press time, there are no confirmed plans for Caine to meet with South Korean officials outside the military leadership.
The meeting also comes as Seoul and Washington are reportedly exploring the possibility of holding a bilateral summit later this month.
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