Cooperation between the U.S., South Korea and Japan will be “vital” for the future of all three countries regardless of who wins the upcoming American and Japanese elections, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, underscoring efforts to institutionalize ties in the face of shared challenges like North Korea.

America’s top diplomat made the comments at the start of a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, amid concerns about how Donald Trump’s potential reelection could upend diplomacy in East Asia.

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