Biden solidifies bonds with Japan and South Korea at Camp David.

President Biden⁤ Hosts Historic Summit with Japanese and South Korean Leaders

President Joe Biden is rolling out the diplomatic red carpet for Japanese ‍Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea⁣ President Yoon Suk-yeol as the three leaders contend with China and North‌ Korea in the Indo-Pacific amid Russia’s war in‍ Ukraine.

But the trio’s first stand-alone summit and Biden’s first public event at Camp David ⁤on Friday also seeks to institutionalize relations between the countries as former ​President Donald Trump remains the 2024 Republican primary front-runner.

Building Strong Partnerships

Biden hopes to “lock in” diplomatic progress between Japan and South Korea while demonstrating ⁤his appreciation to Kishida and Yoon for the political risks they have taken to “get to this point,” according to American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Zack Cooper.

“I do think it is notable ⁤that this is President Biden’s first summit at Camp David,” the former assistant to the White House deputy national security adviser ⁢for⁣ combating terrorism and ‍special assistant to the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy told the Washington Examiner. “Doing this at Camp David provides a more informal atmosphere for these discussions and helps make them a ⁣bit more‍ special than a typical visit to Washington.”

Atlantic Council Indo-Pacific Security Initiative assistant director Kyoko Imai similarly underscored Biden’s efforts “to institutionalize this partnership so​ it can withstand changes in domestic politics in all three ‍countries.”

“The greatest risk to ⁣progress ​on the trilateral front are the legacies of Japanese occupation of South Korea,” she said.‌ “Although Kishida and Yoon have made significant progress, their domestic populations and future leaders will not be as forward-leaning.”

Addressing Regional Challenges

The ⁣three leaders were scheduled to meet during last spring’s Group of Seven‌ leaders summit but settled for a​ photograph instead when Biden’s Indo-Pacific trip was shortened because of debt ‌ceiling negotiations. The trio will spend more time together with fewer distractions at Camp David as Japan and South Korea put their differences aside to respond to China, which has become more assertive in the region, and North Korea, which continues ⁣to test‍ more weapons of mass destruction.

“I suspect that the ⁢administration wanted to make up for that by hosting another meeting quickly,” Cooper said of the G-7.

Senior administration officials previewed⁣ bilateral⁢ and trilateral meetings, ⁤a lunch, and⁢ a press conference, in ⁢addition to ⁢”downtime” for informal engagement ⁤before announcing more diplomatic, ‌military, economic, technology, and education​ cooperation in a communique.⁢ The ⁣economic component is expected to address coercion and ⁢improve supply chain disruption⁤ detection.

“The three leaders … will commit that future leaders will meet on an annual basis,” one official told reporters⁣ Thursday. “We’re going to take the⁣ steps to‌ invest in the appropriate technology to build a state-of-the-art trilateral hotline that we can engage in‍ moments of crisis and uncertainty, and all three leaders will take‍ a pledge,‍ what we ⁢would call a duty ‍to consult, in the event of a crisis or a set of circumstances that affects ‍the security‍ of any one of our countries.”

The duty to consult⁣ will ‍be ​a separate document, as China ‍and ⁣Russia criticize Biden for trying to “NATOize” the Indo-Pacific.

Strengthening Alliances

“Another potential area of liability is ​the group’s stance on China,” ⁣Imai‍ of the Atlantic Council said. “Although the three ​countries have a shared interest in ensuring peace and stability across the​ Taiwan Strait and in the Indo-Pacific more broadly, Tokyo and Seoul are reluctant to be overly critical of their largest trading partner, ⁤Beijing.”

But administration officials emphasized the ‌duty to consult was not “a formal alliance commitment” similar to “an early Cold War security treaty.”

“What it ‍very much is is a commitment amongst our three countries ​that if there is a regional ​contingency or threat, we will ​immediately and⁢ swiftly consult with one another,​ we will discuss ways to‌ share information, to align our messaging, and to take policy⁢ actions in tandem with one⁢ another,”⁢ another official said.

The first official additionally stressed all ​three countries “are committed ‌to an effective, practical ⁣diplomacy with China” and that “this is not ‌about taking steps that in any way seek to ​isolate ​China.” Simultaneously,⁣ U.S. export controls have created dilemmas for South Korea as Samsung and SK Hynix depend on U.S. semiconductor manufacturing ⁤equipment ‌to produce their chips, but they rely on the Chinese market as well.

“What we are seeking to do is not just lock in Japan and South Korea, but‌ lock⁢ in the United States to make clear to everyone that ⁢we are‍ here to stay in the Indo-Pacific,” the official⁢ said.

But the official was adamant Trump’s isolationist foreign policy was an “outlier” among mainstream ​Democratic and Republican politics.

“These efforts are‍ deeply ⁤bipartisan,” the source⁤ said. “In fact, it was ⁢really ​the Republican Party that initially worked so hard on building the allied partnership​ and frameworks, historically.”