Seoul, Tokyo may agree on new military cooperation framework at upcoming trilateral summit with US

Aug 03, 2023, 10:36 am

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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida greet each other ahead of their trilateral talks in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21, 2023./ Source: Joint Press Corps

Washington correspondent Ha Man-joo

The U.S. wants South Korean and Japan to agree that each nation has a duty to consult the others in the event of an attack in a joint statement when the leaders hold a trilateral summit in the United States on Aug. 18, a UK media reported.

The White House wants to bring its two Pacific allies closer to boost deterrence against North Korea and China, Financial Times (FT) reported Monday, citing four people familiar with the situation.

FT said that Washington is urging Tokyo and Seoul to state that the countries have mutual vulnerabilities – a reference to North Korea and China – that would enhance deterrence and facilitate defense co-operation.

If the report is true, it is analyzed that the U.S. is trying to create a new military cooperation framework between South Korea and Japan to strengthen deterrence against threats from North Korea as well as China. The United States signed mutual defense treaties with South Korea and Japan, respectively, but military cooperation between Korea and Japan is very limited due to historical issues and domestic political situations.

South Korea, the U.S., and Japan are discussing establishing a hotline between the leaders of the three sides, and are expected to unveil other measures at the summit, including strengthening trilateral exercises, cyber security, missile defense and economic security.

However, the joint statement would not amount to a formal collective security agreement, FT said.

U.S. President Joe Biden will host South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at Camp David to meet solely for the first time for the purpose of a trilateral summit, not on the margins of a multilateral gathering. The three leaders had agreed to share North Korean missile warning data in real time during the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May.

Christopher Johnstone, a former CIA official now at the CSIS think-tank, said the joint statement strengthening security relations between South Korea and Japan would be a groundbreaking achievement.

“A statement by Tokyo and Seoul affirming that their security is interconnected would be historic, and one difficult for future leaders in either country to repudiate,” said Johnstone. “It would send a message of common interest and purpose that would be heard of course in Pyongyang, but perhaps even more loudly in Beijing.”

In this regard, Pentagon Spokesperson Gen. Pat Ryder said, “We are going to continue to work closely with those two countries to do everything we can do to help facilitate communication as it pertains to our mutual efforts to ensure regional peace and stability.”

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