Trilateral summit will be first of its kind, Seoul's envoy says

The trilateral leaders’ summit between Korea, the United States and Japan scheduled later this month will be a first of its kind, Korea's envoy to the United States said Monday. “This would be the first time that the trilateral summit meeting is...

From right, Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit meeting in Japan on May 21. [YONHAP]

The trilateral leaders’ summit between Korea, the United States and Japan scheduled later this month will be a first of its kind, Korea's envoy to the United States said Monday.

“This would be the first time that the trilateral summit meeting is held independently, not on the sidelines of a multilateral summit,” Korean Ambassador to the United States Cho Hyun-dong said in the press briefing.

“It is also an indication of the level of importance President Biden is placing on the relationship with our president, the Korea-U.S. relationship and on Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation.”

Biden will host a trilateral summit with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David on Aug. 18, the White House confirmed last week. This will mark the first visit to Camp David by foreign leaders since 2015.

Camp David, a secluded rural retreat for U.S. presidents in Catoctin Mountain Park, has often served as a site where American leaders deliberated over difficult decisions or hosted important high-level guests. The last Korean president to meet the U.S. president at Camp David was conservative President Lee Myung-bak when he met with U.S. President George W. Bush in April 2008.

Korean Ambassador to the United States Cho Hyun-dong speaks with the press in Washington on Monday. [YONHAP]

The presidential and prime ministerial teams were reportedly discussing making the trilateral summit a regular occurrence.

Cho suggested the meeting would not have come about without Korea’s efforts to improve ties with Japan.

The bilateral relations that often sour over disputes on territorial and historical issues dating back to the 1910-45 Japanese annexation of Korea, improved significantly this year after the Korean government proposed a fund backed by Korean corporations to compensate victims of Japanese wartime forced labor.

The proposal has faced a strong backlash from some of the victims and civic groups, as well as from members of the liberal Democratic Party.

The three leaders were also expected to discuss their response to North Korea’s continued nuclear weapons development, the North's suspected military support to Russia, and possibly Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water into the sea this year.

“South Korea and the U.S. are continuing close communications regarding the North’s continued missile provocations, to respond decisively both militarily and diplomatically,” Cho said.

Regarding the North’s recent military parade attended by Russian and Chinese officials and reports of arms deals between North Korea and Russia, Cho warned that any arms trade with North Korea “is a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

From left, the presidential and prime ministerial delegations of Korea, the United States and Japan meet on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Nov. 14, 2022. [NEWS1]

“Considering Russia's position as a permanent member of the Security Council and its support for past Security Council resolutions, it should play a constructive role for North Korea's denuclearization,” he added.

Cho said he had also spoken with the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves about recent reports on impending U.S. export restrictions on AI chips, adding the Korean government was working closely with the United States to prevent any negative impact on Korean companies.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]