U.S., South Korea, Japan to Enter New Security Pact at Camp David Summit

The United States has agreed to new security ties with Japan and South Korea in a historic trilateral pact aimed at countering threats from China and North Korea, according to a senior Biden administration official.

President Joe Biden will announce the new security framework with South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a trilateral summit Friday at Camp David, the presidential retreat that has served for decades as the site for high-profile summits between the U.S. and key partners around the world.

Under the accord, known as the "Camp David Principles," the U.S., Japan and South Korea will commit to share intelligence, bolster missile defense systems, and hold joint military exercises in the Indo-Pacific. As part of the agreement the countries will also establish a diplomatic hotline to consult with each other in the event of an international crisis.

The pact is not a formal security or defense treaty between South Korea and Japan, rivals with a long history of conflict in the region. But it represents a real rapprochement between the two nations and is intended to send a message that America is committed to its allies in East Asia in the face of growing challenges from China, North Korea and Russia.

"[This will] make clear to everyone that we are here to stay in the Indo-Pacific region," the Biden administration official told reporters on a call previewing the summit.

Experts praised the trilateral summit and the new pact as a significant diplomatic breakthrough with the potential to make a deep impact on security issues in East Asia.

"This summit is significant and it's historic in some ways," said Jeffrey Hornung, an East Asia security expert at Rand.

The framework won't stop North Korea from continuing its development of nuclear weapons or pressure China to immediately stop its push to assert its dominance in the region, Hornung and other experts said.

"But what it does is strengthen the deterrent capabilities," Hornung said. "These efforts are hedging and preparing for the worst. If they can't get a denuclearized North Korea, then the U.S. and its allies are better prepared and postured to respond."

It remains to be seen how Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow will respond to the U.S. deepening its ties with two democratic powers in Asia. The summit takes place at a moment of heightened tension between the West and Russia and China, Cold War-era allies that have grown closer since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Beyond the specific details of the security arrangements being announced Friday, the summit itself will offer a reminder of the efforts the Biden administration has made to bring democratic nations together to counter threats from autocratic regimes.

Officials from the U.S., Japan and South Korea have spent months laying the groundwork for the meeting at Camp David. Biden became personally involved last fall, when he met with both Yoon and Kishida on the sidelines of a summit in Cambodia to urge them to agree to a trilateral meeting, a senior administration official said.

Getting the leaders to agree was not easy, given the historical tension between South Korea and Japan, which occupied South Korea for three decades before World War Two. But Yoon has sought to foster better relations with Japan since becoming South Korea's president last year, despite lingering public resentment towards Tokyo.

"What President Yoon has done since taking office is quite radical and it's a bit of a risk for his own political standing in South Korea," said Sung-Yoon Lee, an East Asia and Korea expert and fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Once the planning for the summit moved forward, Camp David was "chosen carefully" because of its symbolic significance, according to the White House adviser.

Presidents since Franklin Delano Roosevelt have used the retreat in Maryland as a secluded venue for hosting foreign leaders away from the spotlight of the White House in Washington. President Jimmy Carter used the retreat to broker the 1978 "Camp David Accords" that led to a historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

"There is a recognition that that venue is reserved for only the most important and significant such meetings," the administration official said, speaking on background about Biden's decision to host the U.S.-Japan-South Korea summit at Camp David. "We believe this is clearly at that level."

Yoon and Kishida are scheduled to arrive Friday with their delegations to Camp David. Biden has been at the retreat since late Thursday, preparing for the summit with his national security team.

The leaders will meet separately with Biden as well as together as a group. Biden, Kishida and Yoon will hold a press conference Friday afternoon to outline the new security framework.