Biden invites Japanese, South Korean leaders to Washington for trilateral meeting

US President Joe Biden has invited President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Washington for a trilateral summit this summer to discuss how to "lock in" progress in ties between Seoul and Tokyo, and advance tripartite cooperation, a senior US official said on June 28.

National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell made the remarks amid expectations that the thaw in relations between the Asian neighbors ― frayed over wartime history ― will help cement cooperation among the three countries in the face of growing North Korean threats and other challenges, The Korean Times reports.

"President Biden extended an invitation to both Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon to come to Washington later this summer for a three-way summit between the leaders," he said in a pre-recorded video speech for a peace forum hosted by Yonhap News Agency and Seoul's unification ministry.

"(In the envisioned summit), we will celebrate the remarkable progress that's been made in the bilateral relationship between Japan and South Korea, and to see what steps we can take to make sure we lock that progress in and to see what's possible to trilateralize areas of cooperation going forward," he added.

He was referring to the invitation that Biden offered during a trilateral meeting with Yoon and Kishida on the margins of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, last month.

The proposed trilateral summit would mark the first such gathering arranged solely for their shared agenda, not on the sidelines of a multilateral forum.

It is expected to be another sign of the three countries tightening their solidarity amid security uncertainties stemming from the North Korean nuclear quandary, China's growing assertiveness and Russia's prolonged war in Ukraine, observers said.

The thaw between South Korea and its onetime colonizer, Japan, emerged in March when the Yoon administration announced a decision to compensate South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor on its own without contributions from Japanese firms.

The decision has seen the two nations resuming their leader-level "shuttle diplomacy," bringing trade relations back to a normal track and restoring various dialogue mechanisms.

Casting Yoon's state visit to Washington in April as the "highlight of the last year," Campbell gave an upbeat assessment of it.

"During that historical event, I think in many respects, we not only looked backwards and celebrated 70 years of tremendous progress of standing shoulder-to-shoulder to meet challenges on the Korean Peninsula," he said.

"It was also an opportunity to look forward and anticipate areas where the United States and South Korea intend to work together. We're doubling down on our partnership with respect to technology, people to people exchanges, working globally ― not just in the Indo-Pacific, but in the Pacific region more and more," he added.

The White House summit between Yoon and Biden underscored that the two countries' alliance has been broadening beyond its longtime military focus to cover a wider range of issues, including cybersecurity, cooperation on emerging technologies and climate change, among others.

The two sides also adopted the Washington Declaration meant to strengthen the credibility of America's "extended deterrence" commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its ally.

Campbell noted that the US is still "basking in the glow" of Yoon's state visit as he cited remarks that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made during his recent state visit to Washington, in apparent reference to Yoon's singing of "American Pie" during a state dinner that went viral.

"I will tell you that Prime Minister Modi, last night at the state dinner, began by apologizing by saying that he did not have a good voice and that he could not sing any American show or popular tunes," he quipped. "Still, it was a great visit."

He also unveiled a plan to visit Seoul "in about a month and a half," raising expectations that his trip here could be meant to fine-tune details for the proposed three-way summit.