Yoon says 'robust' trilateral cooperation to lower risks from North

Politics

Published: 21 Aug. 2023, 17:02 Updated: 21 Aug. 2023, 17:36

Yoon says 'robust' trilateral cooperation to lower risks from North

President Yoon Suk Yeol, second from left, presides over a Cabinet meeting at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul Monday to discuss the results of the trilateral summit at Camp David and the Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise that began earlier that morning. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol stressed Monday that the trilateral summit at Camp David institutionalized a "robust" comprehensive cooperative mechanism among South Korea, the United States and Japan rivaling other U.S.-led regional security groupings.

"As North Korea's threat of provocation becomes bigger, the framework of trilateral security cooperation will grow stronger," Yoon said in a Cabinet meeting. "This framework of trilateral cooperation will lower the risk of North Korea's acts of provocation and reinforce our security."

Yoon presided over the Cabinet meeting at the Yongsan presidential office after returning from a four-day trip to the United States to attend a trilateral summit with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts last week.

"Going forward, along with the Aukus and the Quad, the trilateral cooperative body will be robust and serve to promote peace and prosperity in the region and beyond," Yoon said. "The depth and breadth of our cooperation will continue to advance."

Aukus is a trilateral security pact involving the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom launched in 2021, and the Quad, or the quadrilateral security dialogue, is a consultative body with Australia, India, Japan and the United States

Such U.S.-led regional groupings have been seen as a means to better contain China amid its growing assertiveness in the region. Beijing in turn has expressed concerns that the trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo will lead to a "mini-NATO" alliance of sorts.

On Friday, Yoon held the first standalone trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David retreat in Maryland, where the leaders adopted three documents cementing their shared spirit, principles and commitment to consult with each other in the event of threats to their common interests.

In Monday's Cabinet meeting, Yoon noted that dialogue between the three countries previously "had a weak foundation and a limited agenda," but that that the summit "both institutionalized and solidified a system of comprehensive cooperation among our three countries."

He added the summit "opened a new era" of South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation.

Yoon pointed to various benefits for the people, noting that once the three countries connect their supply chain early warning systems, operated individually until now, they will be able to "significantly enhance supply chain information and resilience."

He added that the three countries will move "toward a comprehensive cooperative body that addresses all fronts," including cyber, economy, cutting-edge technology, development, health, women's rights and people-to-people exchanges.

The Cabinet meeting convened as the South Korea-U.S. annual combined military exercise, the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), began earlier in the day.

Yoon stressed that it is "absolutely necessary for the private sector, government and the military to work together to improve the national total war capability."

He warned that in crisis mode, North Korea will "mobilize all available means to achieve its war objectives, even nuclear weapons."

He noted that Pyongyang could also cause social confusion and division through a "fake peace offensive" through the spread of fake news and propaganda instigating anti-state forces. The North could also paralyze public infrastructure by attacking important national facilities.

Yoon pointed to agreements made at the trilateral summit to better deter North Korea, including a real-time sharing of missile warning data and strengthened efforts to monitor and block the regime's illegal cyber activities.

"This comprehensive cooperation framework among the three countries will further strengthen security and contribute to reducing security risks," Yoon said in his closing remarks, according to the presidential office, directing the foreign minister to follow up on developing such a cooperative system between the three countries.

Earlier in the morning, Yoon also presided over a National Security Council (NSC) meeting to inspect the country's warfare capabilities, stressing that "true peace is maintained only by overwhelming force."

"Although North Korea talks about preemptive nuclear strikes and preparations for an offensive war, we will immediately and overwhelmingly punish any provocation by North Korea," Yoon said during the NSC meeting, according to presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

The rival parties had conflicted reactions to the results of the trilateral summit.

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) said that the trilateral summit failed to take care of South Korea's national interest and was only beneficial to Japan and the United States.

"Many people evaluate the summit as a meeting where the national interests of the United States and Japan are visible, but those of South Korea are invisible," said DP floor leader Park Kwang-on, who voiced concerns that the relationship does not put Seoul on "equal footing."

He added that "military cooperation should be limited to information sharing in peacetime and rear support in case of emergency," adding that strengthening trilateral security cooperation may only "raise the level of tensions" on the Korean Peninsula.

DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung in a supreme council meeting Monday also criticized that the summit had been "the last chance to stop Japan from discharging contaminated water," referring to Tokyo's looming plans to release treated radioactive water from its defunct Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean.

Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) in turn welcomed that a "historic agreement" was reached through the Camp David summit, enabling a cooperative body in the field of security and economy.

PPP Chairman Kim Gi-hyeon said at his party's supreme council meeting, "The trilateral summit, which drew attention from the world as the leaders had a standalone meeting at Camp David, a historical place where important agreements were reached at every juncture in modern history, achieved a historic agreement for cooperation between the three countries in economy and security."

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