Cho Tae-yong: "Trilateral Summit of Korea-US-Japan to Continue as a Comprehensive Indo-Pacific Consultative Body"

"Global Diplomatic Incident That Attracted Worldwide Attention"
Inclusiveness of the Summit Encompasses "All Areas"

Cho Tae-yong, Director of the National Security Office, stated on the 20th that the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit "will continue as a core comprehensive consultative body in the Indo-Pacific region."

Director Cho appeared on a broadcast that day and said, "Gathering in one place and having an intensive all-day discussion for the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit was a major diplomatic event that attracted global attention, and the key achievement was regularizing the summit."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, Director Cho explained, "We agreed on a document called the Camp David Principles, which means that the comprehensive consultative body will continue in the future," adding, "Since it reflects common interests and aspirations, the South Korea-U.S.-Japan consultative body will continue centered around this direction."

On the 18th (local time), at Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat located in Maryland near Washington DC, the three leaders adopted three documents during the meeting: ‘The Spirit of Camp David’ (hereafter Spirit), ‘Camp David Principles’ (Principles), and ‘Commitment to Consult’ (Commitment).

Regarding the comprehensiveness of the summit’s content, Director Cho elaborated, "Security cooperation is naturally included, all fields are covered, and specific cooperation programs are also outlined," adding, "Compared to any other consultative body, the South Korea-U.S.-Japan consultative body is likely the foremost in terms of cooperation areas, comprehensiveness, and diversity." However, he drew a line regarding the South Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance. Director Cho stated, "South Korea, the U.S., and Japan did not form an alliance," and explained, "An alliance involves legally binding obligations, but this time, the South Korea-U.S.-Japan agreement is a political commitment, if you want to put it that way."

The three countries’ move to strengthen cooperation on North Korea was also forecasted. Director Cho said, "The keyword is systematizing joint exercises against North Korea," and predicted, "They agreed on how many times and when to conduct them over a year, and will also establish a multi-year plan, so the pressure on North Korea is expected to become much stronger."

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