First Separate Korea-US-Japan Summit Besides Multilateral Meeting
Biden First to Invite Foreign Leaders to Camp David
Discussing WWII and Cold War, Symbol of US Diplomacy
Talks Renamed as Meeting... Possibility of Regularization
President Yoon Suk-yeol will attend the Korea-US-Japan summit meeting held at Camp David, the US president's private residence, on the 18th of next month (local time) at the invitation of US President Joe Biden. The meeting among the leaders of Korea, the US, and Japan has been renamed from a summit to a meeting, and since it is the first separate meeting rather than a multilateral conference, it is expected to be a significant opportunity to strengthen trilateral cooperation.
President Yoon is scheduled to attend the Korea-US-Japan summit meeting on the 18th of next month, where he will have in-depth discussions with the US and Japanese leaders on cooperation regarding North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, economic security, and major regional and global issues, according to Lee Do-woon, spokesperson for the presidential office, in a written briefing on the 28th.
This is the first time in history that the leaders of Korea, the US, and Japan are meeting separately rather than in a multilateral conference. Previously, Korea-US-Japan summits were held a total of 12 times, starting with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Indonesia in November 1994, as part of multilateral meetings. Since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, a total of three Korea-US-Japan summits?the most in any administration?have been held. These took place in June last year in Madrid, Spain, during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit; in November in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit; and in May this year in Hiroshima, Japan, during the Group of Seven (G7) summit.
President Yoon Suk-yeol held a trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit took place on November 13 last year (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]
According to the presidential office, since President Yoon's inauguration, the scope of trilateral cooperation has expanded from strengthening Korea-US-Japan security cooperation to include economic security, advanced technology, and regional and global issues. During the Korea-US-Japan summit held in Phnom Penh, the three leaders agreed on ▲ real-time sharing of North Korean missile warning information ▲ establishment of a Korea-US-Japan economic security dialogue ▲ strengthening cooperation in key and emerging technologies, health, and climate change ▲ joint cooperation with ASEAN, Mekong, and Pacific island countries ▲ reaffirmation of the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait ▲ condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, issuing the most comprehensive 'Phnom Penh Statement' in history.
Since this summit is labeled as a 'Korea-US-Japan meeting' rather than the usual term 'Korea-US-Japan summit,' it is anticipated that the status of Korea-US-Japan cooperation and meetings among the three leaders will be further elevated. This terminology choice can also be interpreted as emphasizing Korea-US-Japan cooperation in response to the 'China-Japan-South Korea summit' regularly held since 2008. Given that the China-Japan-South Korea summit has not been held since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and amid intensifying US-China hegemonic competition, the United States considers various cooperation with Korea and Japan essential to maintain its hegemony in the Pacific region, making the regularization of Korea-US-Japan meetings a possibility.
President Biden's invitation of the Korean and Japanese leaders as the first foreign leaders to Camp David since his inauguration also signals the significance of this Korea-US-Japan summit meeting. Camp David covers approximately 5,000 square meters and is located about 100 km northwest of Washington DC in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. It is equipped with offices and meeting rooms to allow work during vacations, as well as recreational facilities such as swimming, golf, horseback riding, and bowling, along with separate guest accommodations.
Camp David is especially noted for its diplomatic symbolism as a place where major world leaders have gathered to reach historically significant agreements and where relations between hostile countries have improved. During World War II in 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was the first foreign leader to visit Camp David and discussed the end of the war with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1956, during the height of the US-Soviet Cold War, a summit was held between President Dwight Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Among Korean leaders, former President Lee Myung-bak was the first to visit Camp David in April 2008 at the invitation of then-US President George W. Bush.
The presidential office expects this Camp David meeting to be the first case where the Korea-US-Japan leaders gather separately for a meeting rather than as part of a multilateral conference, conducted in a retreat format to allow informal and intimate dialogue among the three leaders. The spokesperson stated, "This Korea-US-Japan meeting will be an important turning point to advance cooperation among the three countries that share core values to a new level. Furthermore, through this meeting, the three countries are expected to jointly promote a rules-based international order and contribute more actively to regional and global security and economic prosperity."
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