On May 22, an official from the South Korean Presidential Office announced that President Yoon Suk Yeol, his US counterpart Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio may hold a three-way summit in Washington in early July.
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| From left to right: US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol prepare to hold a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima on May 21. |
The official emphasized: "The possibility of holding a Korea-US-Japan Summit this summer in Washington is being discussed."
If realized, this would be the first time the leaders of the three countries have met for a specific purpose rather than on the sidelines of a multilateral conference.
A day earlier, when meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Kishida on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, President Biden proposed holding this event.
Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have been strengthening trilateral cooperation to deal with growing challenges stemming from North Korea's nuclear program as well as China's military and economic assertiveness.
On the same day, South Korean Deputy Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul ruled out the possibility of Japan joining the nuclear consultation group between South Korea and the US to strengthen nuclear deterrence against military threats from North Korea.
The statement was made by Mr. Shin amid rumors about the possibility of Tokyo joining the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) that Seoul and Washington agreed to establish during the Summit between the two countries' leaders last month.
“The NCG is a consultative body that aims to strengthen cooperation between South Korea and the United States to expand deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear threats at the highest level. The NCG is jointly run by South Korea and the United States. I don’t think there will be a sudden move to include Japan in the NCG,” Shin said.
Japan has shown interest in establishing an NCG-like body, but Shin was unaware of any progress in such talks between Tokyo and Washington.
In addition, efforts are being made to hold a trilateral defense ministerial meeting among South Korea, Japan and China later this year, according to South Korean officials.
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