Kyodo News: "Biden Tried to Include Suga in ROK-US Summit but Failed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] On the 21st of last month, during the South Korea-US summit, the US side attempted to include Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide to hold a South Korea-US-Japan summit, but it reportedly fell through, according to Japanese media on the 3rd.

Kyodo News cited multiple US-Japan sources on the day, reporting that the US side had explored the possibility of Prime Minister Suga revisiting the US shortly after the US-Japan summit. This plan by the US did not materialize due to concerns from the South Korean government that the South Korea-US summit might be overshadowed by a South Korea-US-Japan summit.

Kyodo News analyzed that the Biden administration pursued this plan with the intention of improving South Korea-Japan relations through the South Korea-US-Japan summit and demonstrating trilateral solidarity on the Taiwan issue to check China.

The Japanese government was reportedly willing to accept the US government's inquiry about a revisit at the time. However, there was caution regarding whether a visit to the US was necessary amid the rapid spread of COVID-19 within Japan.

Kyodo News anticipated that if the South Korea-US-Japan summit had been held, a South Korea-Japan summit in the US might also have been possible. However, given the significant disagreements between South Korea and Japan over issues such as forced labor and comfort women, there were voices of concern within the Japanese government about holding a South Korea-Japan summit without the South Korean government preparing proposals that could convince the Japanese government.

Meanwhile, it is known that the South Korea-US-Japan summit is being coordinated under US leadership to coincide with the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit scheduled to be held in the UK from the 11th to the 13th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.