At the start of a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David, Maryland, Biden declared that the world would be "safer" if US cooperation with Japan and South Korea became "stronger."
US President Joe Biden opened a historic US-Japan-South Korea summit at Camp David on August 18, with the sides focusing on strengthening economic and security ties at a time of growing concerns about North Korea's persistent nuclear threats and China's provocative actions in the Pacific.
 |
| US President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David, Maryland, August 18. (Source: Reuters) |
"Our nations are stronger and the world is safer when we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three of us share," Biden said at the start of a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David, Maryland.
Highlighting the event, which he called the first standalone summit of the three countries, the US President said: "I want to thank you both for the political courage that brought you here."
“Today will be remembered as a historic day where we established a solid institutional foundation and commitments to the trilateral partnership,” President Yoon Suk Yeol said as the three leaders appeared before reporters.
Meanwhile, speaking ahead of the three-way closed-door meeting, Prime Minister Kishida noted that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have met in this way, I believe that we are truly making a new history. The international community is at a turning point in history."
For its part, the Chinese government issued harsh public criticism even before the conference began.
Speaking to reporters on August 18, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin asserted: “The international community has its own judgment on who is creating conflicts and increasing tensions. Attempts to form different factions and cliques and bring confrontation to the Asia-Pacific region are inappropriate and will certainly arouse vigilance and opposition from countries in the region.”
According to the South China Morning Post , China is on “high alert” ahead of the US-Japan-South Korea summit. According to the newspaper, for many observers, the meeting is a new step towards building an Asian version of NATO.
* US President Joe Biden said Japan and South Korea are "capable and indispensable" allies and that the agreements reached at the summit with the leaders of the two countries represent a new beginning in trilateral cooperation.
Speaking at a joint press conference after the trilateral summit, Mr. Biden affirmed that the three countries will bring trilateral defense cooperation to "unprecedented levels".
The US leader also shared that China was mentioned in his talks with the leaders of South Korea and Japan at Camp David earlier in the day.
Mr Biden added that while the summit was not about China, China “clearly came up” in the discussions.
Earlier, the joint statement of the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit at Camp David also mentioned China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior" in regional waters. According to Japanese officials, this is the first time the leaders of the three countries mentioned China's name in a joint statement.
* Also on August 18, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed to resume high-level economic and political talks later this year, amid rapid progress in mending relations.
According to the Japanese government, Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Japan-South Korea-US trilateral summit with President Joe Biden at Camp David.
The two Asian leaders welcomed the resumption of dialogue and cooperation in various fields as well as business exchanges between the two countries.
The government also said that Kishida and Yoon also affirmed that they would maintain close contact. The agreement to resume high-level talks was tied to two separate commitments, a vice-ministerial-level strategic dialogue scheduled for this fall and economic talks involving senior Japanese and South Korean officials to be held later this year.
At the talks, Prime Minister Kishida sought to ensure that the planned release of treated radioactive water from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant would not jeopardize the rapprochement between the neighbors.
At a joint press conference, the South Korean president said the upcoming discharge was not on the agenda and was not brought up, and “the investigation results of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are something we can trust.”
Everything should be done according to procedures established by the agency and “transparent data disclosure” will be required, Mr. Yoon reiterated.
Source
Comment (0)