Biden hosts leaders of Japan, South Korea at Camp David
US President Joe Biden on Friday is expected to announce new security cooperation as he hosts the leaders of Japan and South Korea in three-way talks at Camp David.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have travelled to the US president’s retreat in Maryland, situated west of Washington, for the summit.
Japan and South Korea have had historically strained relations dating back to Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.
What’s expected to come from the summit
Biden would not be pressed on what he hoped to achieve in the talks, only saying to the media before departing on Air Force One that there wouldn’t be any comment until he had met with his counterparts.
The three leaders are, however, expected to agree on a crisis hotline involving the three countries and take part in regular military drills along with annual summits, according to US officials.
“We have created something that is exactly what China was hoping would never happen,” said the US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.
“Our message is we are a permanent Pacific power and presence, and you can bet long on America,” he said at the Brookings Institution.
US attempts to bolster security ties with regional allies have ruffled feathers in China with Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin saying on Friday that no country should “seek its own security at the expense of the security interests of others and of regional peace and stability.”
“Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and
will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region,” Wang told reporters at a regular briefing
Regional security concerns
While the leaders meet, one of a number of regional security challenges is expected to come into focus in the form of North Korea.
Last month Russia and China attended a military parade in Pyongyang, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
Nuclear-capable missiles and new attack drones were among the weapons on display, according to state media.
In the past Moscow and Beijing have distanced themselves from North Korea’s sanctions-defying military activities, however, both governments sent senior officials to survey the equipment on display.
More immediately, South Korean intelligence believes Pyongyang is preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile to coincide with the three-way talks.
Missiles fired by North Korea frequently crash into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
Meanwhile, on Friday Japan’s military said it had scrambled fighter jets after Russian patrol aircraft were detected off the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.
In a short statement, Japan’s Joint Staff said that two planes had flown along the coast between the country’s central and southern regions before passing through the Tsushima Strait and that fighter jets “were scrambled in response.”