America’s highest-ranking military officer has called for closer trilateral defence ties with South Korea and Japan in response to what he described as an “unprecedented” military build-up by North Korea and China.
The remarks by General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, come amid growing pressure on Seoul to shoulder more of the cost of hosting 28,500 US troops and to support their expanded role beyond the Korean peninsula – a move that could test South Korea’s willingness to align more closely with US regional strategy.

“Our focus in the United States remains on re-establishing deterrence and doing so needs and requires the trilateral cooperation between our three countries,” Caine said at a meeting on Friday with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Admiral Kim Myung-soo and General Yoshihide Yoshida, in Seoul.

“The DPRK [North Korea] and China are undergoing an unprecedented military build-up with a clear and unambiguous intent to move forward with their own agendas,” he added.

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine (left) and Admiral Kim Myung-soo, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, inspect a guard of honour at the Ministry of National Defence in Seoul on Thursday. Photo: AFP

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine (left) and Admiral Kim Myung-soo, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, inspect a guard of honour at the Ministry of National Defence in Seoul on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Following the meeting, the three military leaders issued a joint statement condemning Pyongyang’s “unlawful” weapons development and reaffirming efforts to work towards the complete denuclearisation of North Korea.