The top diplomats of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held trilateral talks on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bali, Indonesia on Friday. 

Foreign minister Park Jin held his first in-person meeting with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts Antony Blinken and Yoshimasa Hayashi.

The foreign ministers of the three sides last met in February in Hawaii and the latest meeting is the first such gathering under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

Speaking to reporters after the talks, Park said the three ministers sat down to carry on the momentum from the three-way presidential summit held during the NATO summit in Spain last week and discuss more concrete measures.

He said the three sides agreed to sternly respond to North Korea's continued provocations and also make efforts to resume dialogue with Pyongyang.

They also discussed a joint response to the regional and global challenges the countries face together such as supply chain issues, the pandemic and climate change.

The Friday meeting began 30 minutes later than scheduled following news that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had died after being shot at a campaign event earlier that day. 

The ministers passed on condolences over his death. Park strongly condemned the shooting as a violent criminal act that is unacceptable.  Blinken mourned Abe as a "special partner and a leader with great vision."