On Friday, on the margins of the APEC summit, the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. established a wide-ranging Trilateral Secretariat responsible for “co-ordinating and implementing [the countries’] shared commitments,” in a partnership Washington says is “built to last.”
A joint statement by U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol detailed various areas of collaboration between the three countries, including on defence consultations, exchanges, and data-sharing, critical minerals, AI safety, and development assistance.
The statement called out Russia’s “egregious” military co-operation with North Korea and, in a swipe at Beijing, condemned “unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea.”
Ishiba said a day later that he looked forward to building on historically healthy relations between Japan and South Korea, including by increasing the frequency of bilateral summits and meetings.
The Biden administration is trying to entrench partnerships elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific. On Monday, Washington and Manila signed an intelligence-sharing pact that will allow for “enhanced and expanded sharing of information and defence technology.”
