Camp David: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol agreed to bring the three countries’ security cooperation to “new heights” at a summit at the Camp David U.S. presidential retreat near Washington Friday.

The three countries will hold trilateral meetings between their leaders, foreign ministers, defense ministers and national security advisers at least annually.

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. and South Korean militaries will hold multi-domain trilateral exercises on a regular basis to enhance their coordinated capabilities and cooperation.

The leaders agreed that the three countries will “consult with each other in an expeditious manner to coordinate their responses to regional challenges, provocations, and threats that affect our collective interests and security.”

Kishida told a joint news conference with Biden and Yoon that the three leaders have declared a new era of partnership. “We will continue to work to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the three countries in order to safeguard a free and open international order based on the rule of law,” Kishida said.

Biden said the three countries will bring their defense cooperation to “unprecedented levels.” Yoon said South Korean people think trilateral cooperation with Japan and the United States is important from a forward-looking standpoint.

The Camp David Principles, which the three leaders issued as guidelines for medium- and long-term trilateral cooperation, said the countries “will continue to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific based on a respect for international law, shared norms, and common values.”

In an apparent warning against China, the principles said “we reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community.”

On the Korean Peninsula, the principles said “we stand united in our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in accordance with relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions,” using the official name of North Korea.

Kishida, Biden and Yoon agreed to establish a new trilateral working group to address North Korea’s cyber threats. They agreed to help Southeast Asian and Pacific island countries strengthen maritime security capabilities. The leaders also agreed to make supply chains resilient.

The leaders reaffirmed “a shared commitment to the immediate resolution of the issues of abductees, detainees, and unrepatriated prisoners of war” in North Korea. Kishida stressed the importance of immediately resolving the issue of Pyongyang’s abductions of Japanese nationals, and Biden and Yoon agreed.

The Camp David meeting marked the first stand-alone summit of leaders from Japan, the United States and South Korea.

JIJI Press