US signs security agreement with Japan, South Korea

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed on Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat. at Camp David. Their meeting and agreement comes at a time when the three countries are increasingly tense in their relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the three countries would set up a hotline to discuss responses to threats and announce agreements, including what they call the “Camp David Principles,” at the conclusion. his conversation with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol And Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“The aim of our tripartite security cooperation is and will continue to promote and enhance peace and stability across the region,” they said in a joint statement.

The statement said the three leaders agreed to “improve our tripartite communication mechanism to facilitate regular and timely communication between our countries, including their national leadership.” we”. “That would include annual tripartite meetings between leaders, foreign ministers, defense ministers and national security advisers.”

THIS IS A NEW UPDATE. The following AP previous story.

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — President Joe Biden opened a historic summit with Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday, focused on strengthening security and economic ties at a time of growing concern. about North Korea’s Persistent Nuclear Threats and China’s provocative actions in the Pacific.

“Our nations are stronger and the world is safer when we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share,” Biden announced at the start of the meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol And Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the presidential retreat in Maryland.

Addressing his fellow leaders at what he called the first three-nation independence summit, the US president said: “I want to thank both of them for the political courage that has given them the courage to do so. you come here.”

Yoon said as the three appeared before reporters that “today will be remembered as a historic day where we established a solid institutional base and commitments to a tripartite partnership. “

And Kishida said ahead of the private talks that “the fact that we, the three leaders, met in this way, I believe we are really making a new page of history to this day. Community.” The world is at a turning point in history.”

The United States, Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge pledging the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a crisis or security threat in the Pacific. Details of the new commitment to “consultation obligations” emerged as the summit got underway.

Before the tripartite talks, Biden met privately with Yoon and then Kishida in the middle of the morning. Visitors’ comments were translated into English when they spoke to reporters.

The agreement is one of several joint efforts that the leaders are expected to announce at the day-long summit.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday just before the summit began: “Suffice it to say, this is a big deal. -The Pacific, and a stronger and safer United States of America,”

Even before the summit started, it attracted harsh public criticism from the Chinese government.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Friday: “The international community has its own judgment on who is creating conflicts and increasing tensions.

“Attempts to form various monopolistic groups and factions and bring confrontational bloc into the Asia-Pacific region is unpopular and will certainly cause alarm and protest in countries in the Asia-Pacific region. region,” said Mr. Vuong.

Sullivan pushed back against China’s concerns.

“It’s clearly not a NATO for the Pacific,” said Sullivan. “This partnership is not against anyone, but for something. It is the vision of a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

The pledge, according to a senior Biden administration official, is a “duty to consult” that acknowledges that the three countries share a “fundamentally interconnected security environment” and that the threat to one of them is a “threat to all”. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the upcoming announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agreed to consult, share information and align their messages with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

This is the first summit Biden has hosted during his presidency at the legendary Camp David. The three leaders planned to hold a press conference later. Biden hopes to use much of the day with the two leaders as a more intimate opportunity to deepen their relationship.

The President of the United States planned to take Kishida and Yoon for a walk through the picturesque grounds and invite them—along with several senior aides—to lunch.

The 65-mile (104.6 km) retreat from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter met with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for negotiations establishing the framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979 In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the resort — then known as Shangri-La — to planned the Italian campaign to remove Benito Mussolini from the war.

Biden’s focus for the meeting is promote the United States’ two closest Asian allies further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. Historical rivals have been divided by differing views on World War II history and Japanese colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two nations have begun to reconnect as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders were upset by the increased pace of North Korea’s ballistic missile tests and China exercises near Taiwan, autonomous islands claimed by Beijing as part of its territory and other acts of aggression.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from the compensation of Korean forced laborers during wartime. He announced that Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans who were enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida responded with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the sufferings of Korean forced laborers during the Japanese colonial period,

Efforts to maintain the tripartite relationship will not be without challenges.

Beijing sees efforts to deepen cooperation as the first steps of a Pacific version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming to counter Beijing. US officials expect North Korea to strike – perhaps with more ballistic missile tests and certainly harsh words.

Polls show the majority of Koreans protesting Yoon’s handling of the forced labor issue it is the center for mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that increased security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its largest trading partner. Biden’s predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump worried South Korea during his time in the White House when he talked about reducing the US military presence on the Peninsula.

“If a far-left Korean president and a far-right Japanese leader are elected in their next terms, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in America, then any of them can spoil any hard and meaningful work. Biden, Yoon and Kishida are currently participating,” said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior member at America’s New Security Center Indo-Pacific Security Program.

The three leaders are also expected to detail in a joint communique on their plans to invest in technology for the tripartite crisis hotline and provide an update on the progress the countries have made. achieved in sharing early warning data on North Korean missile launches.

Other announcements expected to be made from the summit include plans expanding military cooperation on ballistic missile defense and turned the summit into an annual event. Sullivan said leaders will commit on Friday to a multi-year planning process for joint military exercises.

The leaders are also likely to discuss longstanding territorial conflicts in the disputed South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.