U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the Australia – United Kingdom – U.S. (AUKUS) partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California U.S. March 13, 2023.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

South Korea is considering sharing advanced military technology with the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia through the so-called AUKUS partnership, South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said.

Mr. Shin said the possibility was discussed during two days of meetings between South Korea and Australia’s Defence and Foreign Ministers that ended in the Australian city of Melbourne on Wednesday.

The United States and the United Kingdom agreed in 2021 to provide Australia with a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology under the AUKUS agreement to counter a growing military presence from China. AUKUS is an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The countries could become involved in cooperation on a wider range of security technologies including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonic systems through what is known as AUKUS Pillar 2.

Mr. Shin welcomed South Korea’s invitation from the three AUKUS partners.

“We do welcome that AUKUS members are considering Korea as an AUKUS Pillar 2 partner and Korea’s defense science and technology capabilities will contribute to the peace and stability of the development of AUKUS Pillar 2 and regional peace,” Shin said through a translator.

Japan is also moving toward formal talks to become part of AUKUS Pillar 2’s technology development and sharing.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles welcomed South Korean efforts to build on its relationship with Japan, which along with Australia, the United States and India form a security dialogue known as the Quad.

“We see this is a very, very positive step forward in the strategic landscape of the region and represents a huge opportunity for Australia to engage with both Korea and Japan,” Mr. Marles told reporters.

“Korea and Australia are working together to uphold the rules-based order within our region and, in fact, within the world,” Mr. Marles added.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L), US President Joe Biden (C) and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (R) hold a press conference after a trilateral meeting during the AUKUS summit. File.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

The U.S., Britain and Australia are set to begin talks on bringing new members into their AUKUS security pact as Washington pushes for Japan to be involved as a deterrent against China, the Financial Times reported.

The countries’ Defence Ministers will announce discussions on Monday on “Pillar Two” of the pact, which commits the members to jointly developing quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology, the newspaper reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the situation.

Also read | AUKUS could rock China’s boat in the Indo-Pacific

They are not considering expanding the first pillar, which is designed to deliver nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia, the FT said.

AUKUS, formed by the three countries in 2021, is part of their efforts to push back against China’s growing power in the Indo-Pacific region. China has called the AUKUS pact dangerous and warned it could spur a regional arms race.

U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to step up partnerships with U.S. allies in Asia, including Japan and the Philippines, amid China’s historic military build-up and its growing territorial assertiveness.

Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador in Tokyo, wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that Japan was “about to become the first additional Pillar II partner”.

A senior U.S. administration official told Reuters on Wednesday that some sort of announcement could be expected in the coming week about Japan’s involvement but gave no details.

Mr. Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will likely discuss expanding AUKUS to include Japan when the president hosts the Prime Minister in Washington on Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the talks said.

Australia, however, is wary of beginning new projects until more progress has been made on supplying Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines, said the source, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Obstacles for Japan

A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council and China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the FT report.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the ministry could not immediately comment.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles has said they would “seek opportunities to engage close partners in AUKUS Pillar II” and any involvement of more countries would be decided and announced by the three partners, a spokesperson from his office said.

Britain’s Defence Ministry said it too would like to involve more allies in this work, subject to joint agreement.

While the U.S. is keen to see Japanese involvement in Pillar Two, officials and experts say obstacles remain, given a need for Japan to introduce better cyber defences and stricter rules for guarding secrets.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, an architect of U.S. Indo-Pacific policy, said on Wednesday the U.S. was encouraging Japan to do more to protect intellectual property and hold officials accountable for secrets. “It’s fair to say that Japan has taken some of those steps, but not all of them,” he said.

The United States has long said that other countries in Europe and Asia are expected to join the second pillar of AUKUS.

The senior U.S. official said any decisions about who would be involved in Pillar Two would be made by the three AUKUS members, whose Defence Ministers had been considering the questions for many months, based on what countries could bring to the project.

Mr. Campbell said that other countries had expressed interest in participating in AUKUS.

“I think you will hear that we have something to say about that next week and there also will be further engagement among the three defence ministers of the United States, Australia, and Great Britain as they focus on this effort as well,” Campbell told the Center for a New American Security think tank.

Mr. Campbell also said on Wednesday the AUKUS submarine project could help deter any Chinese move against Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing claims as part of China.

Mr. Biden, Mr. Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr are to hold a trilateral summit on Thursday.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defence Minister Richard Marles and Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron at Government House for the annual Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN), in Adelaide, Australia March 22, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Australia is set to provide 4.6 billion Australian dollars ($3 billion) to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time, the two countries said Friday.

The announcement came a day after the two countries signed a defense and security pact to better meet challenges such as China’s increased activity in the South China Sea and South Pacific.

United Kingdom Defence Minister Grant Shapps said the submarine program was expensive but necessary.

“Nuclear-powered submarines are not cheap, but we live in a much more dangerous world where we are seeing a much more assertive region with China, a much more dangerous world all around with what’s happening in the Middle East and Europe,” Mr. Shapps told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“Countries need to invest in making sure that adversaries see we are serious about our security, defending freedom of navigation, for example.”

The 10-year deal announced at an annual ministers’ gathering will boost capacity at the Rolls-Royce factory in Derby, U.K., to build the nuclear reactors that will propel the submarines to be built by BAE Systems in Adelaide, Australia.

The Virginia-class submarines will be primarily from a U.K. design and will have a U.S. weapons system onboard.

Australia Defence Minister Richard Marles said the agreement showed that the nuclear submarines program would be fulfilled and would create new production capability for the AUKUS partners, referring to the grouping of Australia, the U.K. and the United States.

“These are big foundational decisions which demonstrate that the pathway to Australia acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability under the banner of AUKUS is happening, and the result of that right here is going to be the most advanced manufacturing in the nation and one of the most advanced manufacturing production lines in the world,” Marles told reporters Friday at the Osborne shipyard in Adelaide.

Australia is acquiring at least three U.S. nuclear submarines from the early 2030s under the AUKUS agreement.

“Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States remain fully committed to this shared endeavour,” a joint trilateral statement from Mr. Marles, Mr. Shapps and U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday.

“These steps to grow Australia’s submarine construction and maintenance capability are critical to the AUKUS partnership, expanding trilateral industrial capacity and building the collective resilience of AUKUS partners to produce and sustain conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines for decades to come.”