Yoon, Biden, Kishida to hold summit at Camp David in August

Diplomacy

Published: 20 Jul. 2023, 10:52 Updated: 20 Jul. 2023, 17:56

Yoon, Biden, Kishida to hold summit at Camp David in August

From right, Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden chat at a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are expected to hold a trilateral summit at Camp David in Maryland on Aug. 18, according to sources Thursday.

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 presidential office said in a statement Thursday that a trilateral summit meeting is "scheduled to be held in the United States in August."

It added, "The specific date and location will be announced as soon as possible after coordination between the three countries."

During a brief meeting between the three leaders on the sidelines of the Group of 7 summit in Hiroshima on May 21, Biden invited Yoon and Kishida for another trilateral summit in Washington as early as this summer.

During this encounter, Biden "commended" Yoon and Kishida "on their courageous work to improve their bilateral ties," referring to their efforts to overcome the issue of compensation for Japan's wartime forced labor victims earlier this year and to repair diplomatic relations. Biden noted that the trilateral partnership and the Indo-Pacific are stronger because of their efforts.

Kim Tae-hyo, Korea's principal deputy national security adviser, said in a joint press briefing with U.S. White House officials Wednesday in Seoul that a Korea-U.S.-Japan summit is in the works for August, following up on Biden's earlier invitation.

"At that time, issues such as security cooperation, economic security and exchange issues can be comprehensively discussed among the three countries," Kim said.

The joint press conference came alongside Kurt Campbell, the White House National Security Council coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, and Cara Abercrombie, deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for defense policy and arms control. Earlier Tuesday, the Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), a bilateral consultative body created to strengthen extended deterrence, held its inaugural meeting at the Yongsan presidential office.

Kim added that a working-level NCG meeting between Seoul and Washington is planned to be held not too long after the trilateral summit.

The Camp David complex was first completed in 1938, and then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt made it the presidential retreat, initially naming the property "Shangri-La." It was later renamed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as "Camp David" after his grandson and has become a place for presidents and their families to get away from Washington.

Roosevelt and other presidents have used Camp David as a place to host foreign leaders and heads of state over the years, sometimes to tackle tough diplomatic negotiations.

Then-Korean President Lee Myung-bak held a bilateral summit meeting with President George W. Bush at Camp David in April 2008 during his visit to the United States.

The three countries' leaders held a trilateral summit in June 2022 on the margins of the NATO summit in Madrid and also in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on the sidelines of Asean-related meetings last November.

This marks the first time the three countries' leaders will be meeting separately for the purpose of holding a trilateral summit, as they previously met on the sidelines of other multilateral events, usually restricted in time.

"A separate meeting between the heads of Korea, the United States and Japan sends a message in itself," said a presidential official.

This trilateral meeting could become regularized, as the one between the leaders of Korea, Japan and China first launched in 1999.

Earlier Thursday, Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun also reported that the three sides are coordinating holding a trilateral summit on Aug. 18 at Camp David, near Washington.

This will become Yoon's third trip to the United States since he took the presidency in May 2022. He previously attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York last September and made a trip to Washington and Boston in April for a state visit.


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