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| President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a joint press conference with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after their summit at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat, in Maryland, Friday (local time). Yonhap |
Yoon, Biden, Kishida agree to hold regular summits, annual joint military drills
By Nam Hyun-woo
President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to hold a trilateral summit at least once a year, as the three leaders met at Camp David, Friday (local time), seeking to elevate their partnership to the next level.
The gathering at the U.S. presidential retreat in Maryland renewed the trilateral summit as an independent multilateral cooperative vehicle in the Indo-Pacific region, as the leaders agreed on the need to consult, coordinate and jointly respond to regional challenges, provocations and threats that affect their common interests and security.
To that end, the national security advisers and ministers of the three countries will hold annual meetings, while other consultative bodies will be set up to bolster trilateral relations, a move widely seen as an attempt to deter China.
Ahead of the three way talks, Biden held separate meetings with Yoon and Kishida. The gathering of the three leaders came amid objections from China, which claimed that such a meeting will intensify tensions in the region and undermine the strategic security of other countries.
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| South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend a trilateral summit at Camp David, Maryland, Friday (local time). EPA-Yonhap |
The Camp David summit is the 13th trilateral summit between South Korea, the United States and Japan, and the first standalone summit between their leaders. In addition, it was also the first time that Biden invited foreign leaders to the presidential retreat, which demonstrates the high priority Washington has placed on trilateral cooperation.
"From this moment on, Camp David will be remembered as a historic place where South Korea, the United States and Japan proclaimed that we will bolster the rules-based international order and play key roles to enhance regional security and prosperity based on our shared values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law," Yoon said during a joint press conference after the summit.
"Grounded in the core values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law, a strong alliance of values among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will help build a world that's more peaceful and prosperous by serving as a sturdy foundation," the president said, adding that he hopes the leaders could reunite in South Korea.
The leaders of the three countries agreed to hold a trilateral summit annually, as well as meetings by their national security advisers and foreign, defense and industry ministers every year. Also, a finance ministers' meeting will be created to upgrade the trilateral alliance to a multi-layered partnership.
Seoul's presidential office said it will be the first case of a regional multilateral consultative body holding annual summits and meetings of national security advisers as well as foreign, defense and industry ministers.
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| South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at Camp David, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap |
The leaders also agreed to establish the Trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue to coordinate policies concerning ASEAN countries and Pacific Island nations. The Trilateral Development and Humanitarian Assistance Policy Dialogue will also be launched to align their development cooperation policies and humanitarian aid for ASEAN and Pacific Island nations.
The three nations will also form the Trilateral Working Group for Cyber Cooperation to collectively address illegal cyber activities by North Korea.
Along with the new consultative bodies, the leaders decided to activate within this year a real-time alert sharing system on North Korea's missile launches, in order to respond more effectively to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats.
The leaders agreed to hold joint military exercises every year, in order to improve their readiness against the North's provocations and institutionalize the drills. The three countries will also hold regular maritime missile defense exercises and anti-submarine warfare drills and explore additional joint disaster response and humanitarian aid exercises.
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| U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at Camp David, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap |
During the summit, they pledged to cooperate in upholding international order based on norms, including freedom of navigation and flight under international law. Additionally, the leaders reaffirmed their opposition to attempts to alter the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly concerning recent actions in the South China Sea.
"We reaffirmed our shared commitment to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and addressing economic coercion," Biden said during the press conference. "We're going to continue to counter threats from the DPRK including cryptocurrency money laundering of billions of dollars, potential arms transfer in support of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine, and we're going to stand up for international law, freedom of navigation, and a peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea."
Kishida also noted that the three countries agreed to strengthen cooperation "for the full implementation of sanctions" and to work closely together in the United Nations Security Council, where all three countries will be members in 2024.
"Through these efforts, the trilateral cooperation will evolve into the most comprehensive and multi-dimensional collaborative framework in the region," First Deputy Director of National Security Kim Tae-hyo said.
"Going forward, the cooperation between the three nations is expected to function as a robust alliance for enhancing peace and prosperity both within the region and beyond, alongside initiatives such as AUKUS and Quad."
AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia and the Quad is the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between the U.S., Japan, India and Australia.
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| Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap |
To strengthen their economic partnership, the leaders agreed to maintain their focus on building robust cooperation in the areas of economic security and technology, to leverage the unique capabilities that each country has.
The leaders noted the role of the existing Trilateral Economic Security Dialogue and pledged to work closely to launch an early warning system to expand information sharing and enhance policy coordination on possible disruptions to global supply chains. The three countries will also launch joint research programs for advanced technologies.
"Overall, the trilateral meeting marks a fundamental sea change in East Asia's security architecture," said Lee Seong-hyon, a senior fellow at the George H. W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations.
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"It highlights South Korea's willingness to deepen its involvement in Team U.S.A.'s broader Indo-Pacific strategy," Lee added.
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| The Commitment to Consult document is seen ahead of a joint news conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap |
Three historic documents
To formalize and institutionalize the trilateral cooperation, the leaders adopted three documents on their cooperation ― the Camp David Principles, the Spirit of Camp David and the Commitment to Consult.
The Commitment to Consult is the third document that the countries had been working on until the last minute before the summit.
The document notes that the leaders "commit our governments to consult trilaterally with each other, in an expeditious manner, to coordinate our responses to regional challenges, provocations, and threats affecting our collective interests and security."
"Through these consultations, we intend to share information, align our messaging, and coordinate response actions," according to the document.
A senior official at Seoul's presidential office said this means that the governments of the three countries "can exchange information, coordinate messages and collaborate for joint response when there is any kind of security, military, economic and cyber threats within the region, such as North Korea's missile threats or significant maritime aggressions."
"The document means that the three countries can share information and jointly respond when the threat is believed to be related to our interests," the official said.
"However, the document does not infringe upon or impede the existing U.S.-Japan alliance or the South Korea-U.S. alliance treaties. Given it does not impose any new legal obligations, it is not necessary for one country to withhold information sharing if a certain threat is not viewed as a risk for the country."
Even though Seoul said this is not a duty, senior Biden administration officials said that it is "a duty to consult" if there is "a regional contingency or a threat," and the three countries will acknowledge that a threat to one of the nations is "a threat to all."
The two sides are showing differences, because the document stipulates the concept of "a contingency" in a broad way, meaning various agendas, such as issues involving the Taiwan Straits, can be interpreted as a subject of consultation by the three countries.
"The term 'Commitment to Consult' serves as a convenient diplomatic coinage, allowing Seoul and Washington to interpret and manage their domestic politics," Lee said. "This fine-tuning process enables the allies to eventually establish an operational definition, especially in potential contingencies such as the Taiwan crisis."
Although expressions were used in the outcome of the summit that symbolize concerns related to China, Biden said the summit was "not about China" but about the three countries' "deepening cooperation across the entire range of issues that went well beyond just the immediate issues we raised."
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| South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, walks with U.S. President Joe Biden, center, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before their summit at Camp David, Friday (local time). Yonhap |
Along with the Consult document, the leaders also adopted the Spirit of Camp David and the Camp David Principles.
The "spirit document" is the leaders' joint statement outlining the outcomes of the trilateral summit. Including the establishment of multiple three-way consultative institutions, it spans extended deterrence, joint military exercises, economic security and other areas of trilateral cooperation.
The "principles document" contains a summary of the principles that the countries should abide by while pursuing trilateral cooperation in various fields, including regional and global peace, economic norms, advanced technologies, climate change and non-proliferation.
"We announce these shared principles at the start of our new chapter together, with the belief that they will continue to guide our trilateral partnership for years to come," according to the document. "Above all, we recognize that we are stronger, and the Indo-Pacific is stronger, when Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States stand as one."
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| South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pose before their summit at Camp David, Friday (local time). Joint Press Corps |
The outcome of the summit and the documents aim for the sustainability of three-way cooperation by institutionalizing "strong frameworks" for future progress in trilateral relations.
Although South Korea and Japan each maintain strong ties with the U.S., the relationship between Seoul and Tokyo has been volatile depending on their domestic political circumstances stemming from their thorny history, or Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea and its wartime atrocities.
Due to this, the Yoon administration and the Biden administration both acknowledge that the South Korean leader's determination to improve Seoul-Tokyo relations is one of the most important factors that enabled the three-way cooperation, and they are seeking to forge a sustainable and irreversible three-way structure through the Camp David summit.
"In South Korea, of course, there's public opinion opposing the government's measures (to improve ties with Japan) but a perspective of forward-looking, strengthening ties and improving relationship between South Korea and Japan is important," Yoon said. "And there is a shared understanding that this matters to our bilateral relationship as well as our future, and this is something we need to continue working on."
Biden also noted that the trilateral summit and relevant Cabinet members' meeting should be held "on a regular basis, not just this year, not next year, forever."
"This is not about a day, week or month," Biden said. "This is about decades and decades of relationships that we're building."
When questioned about Japan's plan to release treated wastewater from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant this summer, Yoon said the matter was not discussed during his bilateral summit with Kishida, and reiterated Seoul's stance that the government trusts the International Atomic Energy Agency's inspection of Japan's plan, but responsible and transparent monitoring by the international community, including South Korea, is required.
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