(Photo : BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
As the region struggles to address the threat posed by an increasingly assertive China and a nuclear-armed North Korea, the US has pledged to bring in a "new era" in relations with its most important allies in Asia.
As part of a historic trilateral agreement, the United States, Japan, and South Korea will establish a leader-level hotline and conduct annual military exercises to assist Washington and its Asian allies in increasing deterrence against North Korea and China.
President Joe Biden will make the announcement with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday at Camp David, according to Kurt Campbell, the White House's most senior official for the Indo-Pacific region.
US-Japan-South Korea Joint Drills
The trilateral summit represents a significant victory for Washington, which has urged Tokyo and Seoul for years to move beyond a long-standing dispute over Japan's wartime conduct so that the United States can work more closely with its Asian allies.
According to Financial Times, Japan and South Korea have mutual defense treaties with the United States. Long-standing tensions between Tokyo and Seoul, which are not allies, have made significant trilateral security cooperation nearly impossible over the years, to the chagrin of the United States.
The leaders will release a comprehensive set of "Camp David principles" and a document outlining security cooperation. In addition to the hotline and the annual military exercises, they will agree to conduct an annual summit and establish a system for intelligence sharing.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to "unify" Taiwan with the mainland. Per NBS News, officials from China criticized the summit, claiming that it would foster hostility rather than promote peace.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in an email, "China has observed some exclusionary groupings being formed in the name of'regional security' that only serve to exacerbate hostility and undermine the strategic security of other nations." "China firmly opposes such practices."
Officials from the State Department defended the Camp David meeting. There is no reason to view this summit as provocative or as an attempt to instigate tensions, according to spokesman Vedant Patel.
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North Korea Allegedly Plans to Launch Missiles During Trilateral Summit
Meanwhile, the South Korean intelligence agency believes North Korea is planning a number of military provocations in advance of this week's trilateral summit with the United States and Japan, as well as the forthcoming joint exercises with United States troops.
National Intelligence Service has detected indications that North Korea is preparing for an imminent ICBM launch, according to Rep. Yoo Sang-bum, executive secretary of the intelligence committee of the National Assembly.
Yoo, citing the NIS, stated that there had been an anomalous increase in activity near the missile production facilities, and the planned provocations may involve the launch of tactical nuclear-capable missiles.
According to a lawmaker from the ruling party, North Korea has also been rigorously testing the engine and propellant systems that were officially cited as the cause of the failure of its first military reconnaissance satellite in May.
North Korea attributed the failed satellite launch to engine instability and has since conducted experiments to fix the flaws, the Korea Herald reported.
Yoo added that as a result of the worsening food situation, North Korean authorities have increased their surveillance of the populace out of concern for potential unrest. The number of fatalities attributed to starvation between January and July of this year is believed to be more than double the annual average for the previous five years.
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