Biden meets with leaders of South Korea and Japan, praises cooperation amid tensions over North Korea

President Joe Biden on Friday praised from Peru the collaboration between South Korea, Japan and the United States to counter what he described as North Korea’s “dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia.”

Biden spoke at the beginning of a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC in English), in Lima.

The talks came amid growing concerns about North Korea’s growing military partnership with Russia and Pyongyang’s intensified cadence of ballistic missile tests.

Biden celebrated the partnership between Japan and South Korea, two countries that have a historical enmity, but that, under his presidency in the United States, are strengthening economic and security ties as that corner of the world becomes more complicated.

Biden noted that it would be his last meeting with them, but that the trilateral partnership must be preserved for years to come.

“I’m proud of how far we’ve come,” Biden said. “Whatever the problem is, we’ve tackled it together.”

“Challenging” environment

The meeting of Biden, Yoon and Ishiba comes as North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to recapture territory in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized earlier this year.

“As we can see from the recent deployment of DPRK troops to Russia, the challenging security environment inside and outside the region reminds us once again of the importance of our trilateral cooperation,” Yoon said through a translator, using the initials of the DPRK. formal name of North Korea.

Ishiba also emphasized the importance of the three nations acting as a bulwark against North Korea and pointed to recent military exercises between the three nations as a sign of cooperation.

A three-day exercise in June was aimed at improving joint ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities and helping the three countries improve their increasingly important ability to share missile warnings. as North Korea tests increasingly sophisticated systems.

“I hope to promote our partnership in response to North Korea and in many other areas,” Ishiba said, also through a translator.

White House officials are concerned that Pyongyang could be called upon to take more provocative actions before the inauguration. president-elect Donald Trump and the first days of his administration.

“I don’t think we can count on a period of calm with the DPRK,” said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. “Transitions have historically been periods in which the DPRK has taken provocative actions both before and after the transition to a new president.”

According to assessments by the United States, South Korea and Ukraine, up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia.

The talks between the United States, South Korea and Japan follow up on a partnership launched at a historic 2023 meeting at the U.S. presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland.

Farewell journey

Biden is on a six-day visit to Latin America for the last major international summits of his presidency, following APEC with a meeting in Brazil of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies. He is likely to face questions from world leaders about the incoming administration as they turn their attention to what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for them.

Biden participated in an informal meeting with other APEC leaders and met with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte.

He also held a one-on-one meeting with Ishiba, his first such meeting since the Japanese prime minister took office on October 1.

Biden urged Japan and South Korea to put aside years of historical animosity and strengthen economic and security ties as the countries confront the threat from North Korea as well as China’s growing military assertiveness in the Pacific.

The three countries signed a commitment in which they agree to consult, share information and align their messages with each other in the face of a threat or crisis.

Sullivan reported that the Biden administration is working to ensure that cooperation between the three countries is “an enduring feature of American politics.”

He hopes it will continue during Trump’s presidency, noting its bipartisan support, but acknowledged it was up to the incoming president’s team. Both Yoon and Ishiba have already been in contact with Trump and aim to keep their countries’ relations stable with the incoming administration.

South Korea’s presidential office said Yoon would also meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this Friday to discuss economic cooperation and cultural exchanges, as well as the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

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