South Korea, US, Japan set to sign Arctic cooperation MOU to counter China, Russia

South Korea, the United States and Japan have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on maritime cooperation and energy supply chain expansion in the Arctic, with the three countries now working out the details, Japanese media reported.

The move comes as China and Russia accelerate their push to dominate Arctic sea routes and natural resources amid climate change, with the three allies extending their economic security front to the Arctic to push back against that advance.

Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported Sunday, citing multiple sources familiar with US-Japan relations, that Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi are expected to hold a trilateral meeting and sign the Arctic cooperation memorandum on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

According to the draft memorandum as reported, the three countries affirm that "cooperation in the Arctic is essential to the economic security of South Korea, the United States and Japan." To put that into practice, they have agreed to establish a working group — tentatively called the "Arctic-Pacific Trilateral Partnership" — to discuss specific areas of cooperation. The three countries also plan to seek coordination with the Arctic Council, an eight-nation forum comprising countries with Arctic territory, including Denmark and Norway.

The pact centers on two priorities: maritime cooperation and economic linkage.

On the maritime side, Japan plans to share with South Korea and the United States its icebreaker construction expertise and polar maritime observation capabilities — built up through operating vessels such as the Antarctic research ship Shirase — and to establish a joint response framework for contingencies in the Arctic Ocean. Japan began operating its new Arctic research vessel Mirai 2 this year, aiming to improve the precision of oceanographic and meteorological data and to secure a leading role in shaping the future use of Arctic waters and the development of international norms governing them.

On the economic side, the three countries agreed to advance working-level dialogue aimed at expanding the production and stable supply chains of key energy resources — including oil and natural gas — that are abundant in the Arctic region.

The trilateral initiative reflects a convergence of strategic interests. The United States, which administers Alaska — Arctic territory — has grown increasingly wary of Russia's military activities in the Arctic and China's maritime expansion there. In its Arctic Strategy published in 2024, the US Defense Department identified growing China-Russia cooperation as a serious security threat and set out plans to strengthen Arctic surveillance and navigation capabilities in coordination with allies South Korea and Japan.

South Korea, for its part, has its sights set on the full commercial opening of the Northern Sea Route linking Europe. The Arctic sea route can cut both sailing distance and transit time by roughly 30 percent compared with the route through the Suez Canal, drawing attention as a new maritime corridor that could reshape Eurasian logistics. Seoul plans to use the trilateral cooperation as a springboard to secure reliable route data and gain an early foothold in building the next-generation global logistics network.