▲ Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (L), Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (2nd from L), Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (2nd from R) and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio address a joint press conference following their Quad Foreign Ministers meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on May 26, 2026, in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap)
▲ U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addresses a joint press conference after the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi on May 26, 2026, in this photo released by AFP. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Quad-foreign ministers

Top diplomats of U.S., Australia, Japan, India reaffirm commitment to N. Korea denuclearization

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of the United States, Australia, Japan and India on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of North Korea, Tokyo's foreign minister said, as tensions flared anew following Pyongyang's missile and artillery launches.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made the remarks during a joint press conference after he and his U.S., Australian and Indian counterparts, Marco Rubio, Penny Wong and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, held their Quad foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi.

"We discussed the North Korean situation, including nuclear and missile problems and cyber activities," Motegi said, according to a transcript from the State Department.

"We reaffirmed our commitment towards complete denuclearization of North Korea," he added.

On Tuesday, North Korea fired multiple close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs) and artillery rockets toward the Yellow Sea in its latest saber-rattling that underscored its continued push to advance its weapons programs.

During the Quad ministers' meeting, the four countries agreed on the launch of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Corporation Initiative, under which the countries will harness their surveillance capabilities to enhance information sharing, Rubio said during the press conference.

They also agreed on the expansion of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative to provide near real-time commercial maritime domain awareness data to countries throughout the Indo-Pacific, the secretary said.

The agreement to enhance maritime security came as the four countries shared concerns over continuing disruptions to commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key sea lane for shipments of oil, natural gas, fertilizer and other commodities.

"The reason why maritime security is so important, beyond the fact that current events remind us of what can happen when maritime security is impeded, is the fact that 60 percent of global maritime trade passes through the Indo-Pacific," Rubio said.

"It's a vital national interest, not just to the four countries represented here today but to dozens and dozens of countries, countless countries around the world."

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