US to host Camp David summit with Japan, South Korea next month

Next month, US President Joe Biden is anticipated to welcome the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David for a trilateral summit, according to the co-chair of the US congressional caucus on Korea.

According to news agency Reuters, Democratic congressman Ami Bera told a Washington think tank he anticipated the summit between the close allies “in, I guess, a couple of weeks now” at the U.S. presidential retreat in the mountains of western Maryland.

According to South Korean and Japanese media, the meeting will take place on August 18 at Camp David. The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol confirmed last week that it would take place in August and that the precise date and location would be revealed shortly.

The White House chose not to respond. Plans have not been finalised, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to Reuters.

Since both China and North Korea are developing nuclear and missile programmes, Washington is eager to promote stronger ties with its two key partners in the region.

Following years of disputes over historical matters that hindered cooperation, Japan and South Korea have been making efforts to repair their strained bilateral ties.

Biden in May praised Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for “courageous work to improve their bilateral ties,” saying the trilateral partnership was stronger because of it.

Bera told the Center for Strategic and International Studies he would like to see “real tangibles” from the summit, including on the economic front, “whether that’s in the semiconductor space … the clean-energy, electric-vehicle space.”

“We’ve talked a little bit about joint exploration in the East China Sea, what that might look like,” he added. “Is there a way for U.S. energy companies to be engaged in a maybe Japanese-Korean venture in the joint development zone?”

Bera referred to cooperation on supply chains and an agreement the United States had negotiated with Japan covering rare earths critical in high-tech uses. “I think … Korea should be involved in that as well,” he said.

Bera said he expected Yoon to raise South Korean concerns about Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act “and maybe you’ll see some progress on what that looks like and some adjustments.”

(With agency inputs)