Yoon, Biden, Kishida kick off trilateral summit at Camp David

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that the trilateral summit with the United States and Japan at Camp David on Friday will serve as an opportunity to lay the foundation to institutionalize three-way cooperation.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, U.S. President Joe Biden, center, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, take a commemorative photo ahead of their trilateral summit at Camp David near Thurmont, Maryland, Friday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that the trilateral summit with the United States and Japan at Camp David on Friday will serve as an opportunity to lay the foundation to institutionalize three-way cooperation.

Yoon arrived at the American presidential retreat in Maryland on a U.S. marine helicopter earlier that morning for a historic summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

"In order to further strengthen trilateral cooperation, it is necessary to solidify the institutional foundation for this summit," Yoon said in his opening remarks. "We need to solidify our commitment to cooperation among the three countries on challenging tasks that threaten regional security."

This marks the first standalone trilateral summit between the three countries' leaders.

"I think it is meaningful that a new chapter in trilateral cooperation has been opened at Camp David, which has a great symbolism in the history of modern diplomacy," he said.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and U.S. President Joe Biden, right, take part in a trilateral summit at Camp David near Thurmont, Maryland, Thursday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Biden likewise welcomed the two leaders to Camp David, noting they were his first foreign guests there.

"It's not only the first summit I hosted at Camp David, it's the first ever standalone summit between the leaders of Japan and the Republic of Korea and the United States," Biden said in his opening remarks. "And I can't think of a better way to mark a new chapter of our trilateral cooperation than meeting here at Camp David."

He stressed that "strengthening our ties between our democracies has long been a priority to me dating back to when I was vice president of the United States."

Biden underscored, "Our countries, and our world, will be safer as we stand together, and I know this is a belief we all three share."

He went on to thank both Yoon and Kishida for their "political courage" that brought them together, in a nod to diplomatic efforts earlier this year to improve bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo after relations soured in recent years due to historical disputes and a trade spat.

"You stepped up to do the hard, I would argue historic work, to forge a foundation from which we can face the future together, the three of us together," Biden said, adding he is "deeply grateful" for their leadership.

Biden said he looks forward to working with both leaders "as we begin this new era of cooperation and renew our resolve to serve as a force of good across the Indo-Pacific, and quite frankly around the world as well."

Kishida likewise noted that the international community is at a "turning point in history," stressing the importance of increasing trilateral security and economic cooperation.

Yoon stressed the importance of uniting in order to protect individual freedom, stressing this is "a promise and duty to our future generations."

He said that he looks forward to having in-depth discussions with Biden and Kishida "about ways to drastically strengthen Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation."

Yoon arrived in Washington Thursday for a four-day trip to attend the summit.

Ahead of the trilateral summit, Yoon and Biden held bilateral talks at Camp David. Yoon was also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Kishida later Friday.

Yoon and Kishida are the first foreign leaders to visit Camp David since 2015 after Biden extended them an invitation to visit him this summer on the sidelines of the Group of 7 gathering in Hiroshima in May.

U.S. President Joe Biden, center, greets Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, during their trilateral summit at Camp David near Thurmont, Maryland, Friday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]