Japanese Media: "South Korea, U.S., and Japan Agree to Hold Regular Summits at Least Once a Year"

Three Countries Hold First Separate Summit Without Multilateral Meeting on the 18th

The trilateral summit between South Korea, the United States, and Japan, hosted by the U.S., will be held on the 18th (local time) at Camp David near Washington DC. On the 10th, Japanese news agency Kyodo News and others reported that the three countries have agreed to hold a summit at least once a year.

In May, President Yoon Suk-yeol (far right), U.S. President Joe Biden (far left), and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met at the G7 summit venue in Hiroshima, Japan.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Japanese media, citing diplomatic sources, reported that this agreement was included in the joint statement to be announced by the three leaders. Usually, the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summits have often been held in conjunction with international meetings, but the regular trilateral summits to be held after this meeting are expected to be conducted separately from international conferences.

Earlier, on the 4th, Cho Tae-yong, Director of the National Security Office, told reporters that regarding the regularization of the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, "a consensus is being formed, so the results will come out according to the leaders' consultations." However, it is reported that final discussions at the leader level are needed on how regularly they will meet.

In addition, it is known that discussions are underway to hold the South Korea-U.S.-Japan National Security Council (NSC) advisors' meetings twice a year.

This South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, held at the invitation of President Joe Biden, is the first separate summit. The trilateral summit was first held in November 1994 during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, and since then, it has been held irregularly on the occasion of multilateral meetings.

At this meeting, the three leaders are expected to announce a joint statement covering cooperation related to North Korea's missile response, cyber defense, and economic security. It is also expected that the policy regarding a new framework for regular joint exercises among the South Korean military, U.S. forces, and Japan Self-Defense Forces will be included.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said regarding this South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, "It will be an important meeting that fundamentally changes the strategic landscape of the Indo-Pacific region," according to Japanese foreign media.

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