USA, South Korea and Japan: "New era of partnership"

2023-08-19 08:31:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

USA, South Korea and Japan: "New era of partnership"

Camp David summit: US, South Korea and Japan move closer

At a summit of the three countries, the US, South Korea and Japan, solidarity between them was emphasized and a clear signal was sent to China and North Korea. US President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met at the US President's Camp David residence near Washington. Biden spoke of a "new era of partnership". And not "for a day, a week or a month, but for decades and decades."

Yoon stressed that Camp David will "be remembered as a historic place in which the Republic of Korea, Japan and the United States made it known that they want to strengthen the rules-based world order and will play a key role to enhance regional security and well-being."

China's "aggressive behavior" in the Indo-Pacific

In a joint statement, Biden, Yoon and Kishida condemned China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior" in the South China Sea. "We are strictly against attempts to change the status quo in Indo-Pacific waters." China, a rising military power, stakes claims to vast areas in the South China Sea.

Joe Biden's speech, Camp David

The US has long accused the leadership in Beijing of pursuing an expansionist course and has not ruled out a military invasion of Taiwan. China accuses Washington, for its part, of aiming for global domination. In early July, the People's Republic of China appealed to Japan and South Korea to resist "the coercion of intimidation and domination" without mentioning the US. Specifically, the heads of the three countries agreed, in addition to holding annual meetings and military exercises, to increase the exchange of information on missile launches and cyber activities of South Korea, as well as greater cooperation in defense against ballistic missiles. There will also be a "hotline" for special cases of crisis.

President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, August 18, 2023, Camp David

South Korea and Japan - rapprochement due to North Korea

Before the summit, the rapprochement between Japan and South Korea was considered a success. Between the two countries, as always, there are great differences in attitudes regarding the historical developments in the years 1910 and 1945, when all of Korea was a Japanese colony. Back then Koreans were sent to forced labor and women were treated as sex slaves.

Meanwhile, both for Japan and South Korea, the threat from North Korea plays a decisive role in strengthening foreign and security policy. The North Korean leadership continues to strengthen its nuclear and missile programs, and uses tough rhetoric against its old enemy, the US.

Even the location of the first summit between the three countries was chosen well. Camp David in the federal state of Maryland is a place of historical symbolism in world diplomacy. Among other things, in 1978, a historic agreement was reached between Israel and Egypt, which led to the peace agreement later between the two countries/ DW