US Think Tank: "To Strengthen US-Japan Alliance, South Korea Should Join G7"

There have been opinions that South Korea should be included in the Group of Seven (G7) to strengthen the US-Japan alliance and expand trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan.

The US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated this on the 4th (local time) in a report on the development of the US-Japan alliance, co-authored by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Harvard professor Joseph Nye, and CSIS experts.

The report emphasized the need to strengthen the US-Japan alliance to respond to threats from China, Russia, and North Korea, and proposed expanding cooperation with South Korea as one of the methods. It suggested linking the US-Japan alliance with the US-South Korea alliance.

Leaders of Korea, the United States, and Japan entering the Camp David joint press conference venue
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The authors noted that since the trilateral summit among South Korea, the US, and Japan at Camp David last August, a strategic-level trilateral dialogue structure has been established, and moving forward, official coordination at the operational level among the three countries is necessary. Specifically, they recommended dispatching liaison officers to each other’s countries, observing bilateral exercises between the US-Japan and South Korea-Japan, and creating an organization at the trilateral level to prepare for contingencies.

They also argued that South Korea and Japan should normalize their defense relations through a joint security declaration.

The authors said that adding South Korea and Australia to the G7 should be considered. Since the G7 has emerged as an international consultative body leading the international order, including support for Ukraine and responses to China, it is necessary to include other countries with similar positions.