Japan, South Korea in Historic Summit at Camp David

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, President Joe Biden and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, meet on Fri, Aug. 18, 2023, at Camp David.
Photo: Andrew Harnik/Associated Press

President Biden’s first foreign policy conclave at Camp David, scene of a number of historic agreements, saw Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yook Suk Yeol overcome a longtime feud from the last century and develop a united regional partnership to address a rising China and North Korean threat.

DU’s Crossley Center’s program on Japanese Diplomacy identified the strategic pressure that pushed to end the rivalry and develop economic and military agreements to secure a free and open Indo-Pacific. North Korea’s nuclear saber rattling, Russia’s attack of Ukraine, China’s alliance with Russia and its own aggression toward Taiwan have changed the strategic dynamic in the region. Japan has moved away from its post-war pacifism to fully join the western democratic alliance and South Korea is shedding the political gridlock of the post-war colonization of the peninsula.

National security has moved political leaders and public opinion in threatened democracies accordingly.

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POLITICO: At Camp David, Biden hails new era of partisanship between U.S., South Korea and Japan. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/at-camp-david-biden-hails-new-era-of-partnership- between-us-south-korea-and-japan/ar-AA1fsOnY

NY TIMES: U.S.-Japan-South Korea Security Pact Likely to Deepen China’s Dismay https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/world/asia/china-biden-camp-david.html

U.S. and Japan Diplomacy Program: Webinars Posted https://fciruli.blogspot.com/2022/05/us-and-japan-diplomacy-program-webinars.html

The Year of the Indo-Pacific https://fciruli.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-year-of-indo-pacific.html