What does the Camp David agreement mean?

Ahn Ho-young
The author, a former Korean ambassador to the United States, is chair professor at Kyungnam University.

The U.S. government attached unrivaled significance to the first exclusive tripartite summit with Korea and Japan last Friday at Camp David. The atmosphere can be read in the accolades for the meeting — a “historic summit,” a “defining trilateral relationship for the 21st century,” and “opening a new era for cooperation.” The background explains the reason for the praise. But more importantly, the evaluation can apply to Korea as well.

Let’s look at the background first. When I was South Korean ambassador to the United States from 2013 to 2017, U.S.-China relations started cracking as U.S.-Russia relations deteriorated. In 2014, Russia invaded Crimea and the Donbas region in Ukraine. Around that time, China began flexing its muscles and pressuring neighboring countries by building military bases on the South China Sea. In 2016 and 2017, tensions from North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests hit a peak.

While watching these alarming developments, I thought they were a brazen challenge to the liberal international order which spread globally after the Cold War. I could not help worrying about their ominous impact on Korea’s security and economy. Such challenges were getting tougher over the past few years. The promise of a friendship with “no limits” between China and Russia, the following Russian invasion of Ukraine, the subsequent economic sanctions from the West, and the spread of Covid-19 helped turn a global security crisis into a global economic crisis.

How should we prepare for the unprecedented — and complicated — crisis? Korea, the United States and Japan found the solution in strengthening cooperation with countries that share the same values. The United States has long sought the trilateral security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific theater with South Korea and Japan — its key allies. After the Seoul-Tokyo relations improved dramatically thanks to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conviction, U.S. President Joe Biden could invite both Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the secluded presidential retreat in Maryland.

At Camp David, the three leaders adopted three agreements characterized by three terms — spirit, principles, and commitment. Their agreements can be summarized in three points. First, they agreed to regularize — and systematize — consultations by holding a summit at least once a year. They also agreed to hold a high-level meeting among the countries’ foreign, defense, finance and industry ministers, not to mention a regular meeting among their national security advisors.

Second, the three heads of state reached a number of agreements to reinforce their security cooperation, including the establishment of a communication channel to swiftly consult and respond to urgent issues related to external challenges, provocations and threats. The trio also concurred on finding substantial ways to deal with the nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. Another noteworthy agreement was made on opposing any moves to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region by force and helping members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and island states in the Pacific to augment their capability to protect their own maritime security.

Third, the three leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation to build reliable supply chains, including for energy, as well as expand cooperation on cutting-edge technology to ensure their countries’ future growth. To achieve this goal, the leaders decided to push joint R&D programs for their state research institutes and expand human exchanges.

In a meaningful step, the leaders reached an agreement on the need to share a sense of crisis for security and the economy as well as find effective ways to deal with external challenges. What matters now is how to effectively put their agreements into action.

It is very important for the Yoon administration to explain the backgrounds and significance of the agreements at Camp David in detail to draw public understanding and support. Some opponents are raising concerns about the possibility of the historic agreement accelerating the confrontation between the South Korea-U.S.-Japan axis and the North Korea-China-Russia axis.

But they must not forget that the three leaders met at Camp David in reaction to the increasing provocations from North Korea, China and Russia, not the other way around. Korea nevertheless proposed to the three countries to cooperate based on the principles of mutual respect and reciprocity. Their blind denunciation of Korea despite its amicable stance will only help provoke the Korean people.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.