On Aug. 21, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Hisashi Michikami, consul general of Japan in Busan, will take office as secretary-general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat as of Sept. 1. Established in Seoul in 2011, the Secretariat is an international organization with the mandate of facilitating the coordination of trilateral cooperation projects. The secretary-general is appointed on a two-year rotational basis among the three countries. South Korea’s Lee Jong-Heon is the current secretary-general.