U.S., Japan and S. Korea agree to reinforce economic, security ties at Camp David summit
President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.
According to Biden, the nations would set up a communications hotline to talk about how to respond to threats. At the conclusion of his talks with the leaders of Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol, he announced the agreements, including what the leaders referred to as the “Camp David Principles.”
“Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share,” Biden said.
According to Biden the goal of the meeting, was to encourage the two closest Asian allies of the United States to further enhance their security and economic ties. The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship won’t be without challenges.
“The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region,” the leaders said in a joint statement.
Biden maintained that the summit “was not about China” and instead concentrated on larger security matters, as have officials from the United States, South Korea, and Japan. However, the leaders emphasized China’s “dangerous and aggressive” activity in the South China Sea in their joint summit’s concluding declaration and declared that they “strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.”
In the case of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific, the United States, Japan, and South Korea have committed to a new “duty to consult” security guarantee.
Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.
Meanwhile, Republican Donald Trump, Biden’s predecessor raised alarm over South Korea while in the White House by proposing to scale back the American military presence on the Korean Peninsula.
