2023-08-19 02:30:01
When it comes to the big questions of world politics, American presidents like to invite people to Camp David. In the 1970s, the warring neighboring countries of Israel and Egypt found each other at the country estate in the US state of Maryland. Joe Biden received the leaders of South Korea and Japan at this historic site yesterday.
It was the first “independent summit” between the US, Japan and South Korea. Because South Korea and Japan separate at least as much as they unite. Above all, the dark chapter of the common history strained the relations between Seoul and Tokyo. Japan occupied Korea from 1910 to 1945, many South Korean women were abused as sex slaves, and people were forced to do forced labor.
But the growing threat from North Korea and China’s new drive for power recently brought regarding a rethink. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden therefore intensified their cooperation yesterday. Yoon spoke of a “new milestone in the trilateral cooperation”.
An emergency hotline
Above all, this includes an obligation to consult in security crises. In addition, a kind of emergency hotline for quick exchange in crisis situations is to be set up between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul. “We will discuss ways to share information, coordinate our messages and take political action together,” the White House said. Not only annual meetings are planned, but also joint military exercises.
“This historic meeting proves how important this relationship is not only for our country but also for international security,” said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder. It is also a “message to the world and the region”. The aim is to deter “possible aggressors” and to ensure “stability and security” in the region and internationally. Tensions in the region have recently increased massively. The United States and its partners are not only watching North Korea’s repeated missile launches and progress in developing a nuclear program with growing concern. Chinese activities in the East China and South China Seas and in the Taiwan Strait are also seen as a threat.
China, on the other hand, is watching the new alliance between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington with eagle eyes. Head of state Xi Jinping not only accuses the USA of curbing the economic rise of the People’s Republic of China, but also of wanting to establish a kind of NATO in East Asia with the help of its allies.
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