Daniel C. Sneider

Asian Angle | US-Japan-South Korea security ties still face domestic hurdles – and Fukushima’s only the start

High-flown rhetoric trumpeting a new ‘alliance’ between the three nations conceals political realities that were swept under the rug at Camp David

Ties have already been put to the test by the release of treated waste water from Fukushima – and a glaring lack of economic strategy isn’t helping

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US President Joe Biden, South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol, and Japan’s Fumio Kishida at Camp David in the US last month. Photo: AP

Daniel C. Sneider

Published: 2:00pm, 1 Sep 2023Updated: 3:58pm, 1 Sep 2023

A summit on August 18 that brought together the leaders of Japan, South Korea and the United States at the US president’s Camp David country retreat was rightly hailed as a breakthrough moment in consolidating trilateral security ties, especially after years of near-frozen relations.

US officials stressed the importance of creating enduring institutions and structures among the three countries. These institutions could be nested within other Indo-Pacific regional creations like the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), the newer Aukus security pact, and cooperation with the Philippines.

The summit documents offered both a vision of partnership and a variety of practical agreements. They include everything from annual leadership summits to meetings at the ministerial and official levels to coordinate on economic security, supply chains and cybersecurity, as well as classic security steps such as joint military exercises.

Perhaps the most striking outcome of this summit was the assertion of shared security interests that bind Japan and South Korea and their alliances with the US. While it falls short of a collective security agreement, the two-paragraph “commitment to consult” on responses to “regional challenges, provocations, and threats affecting our collective interests and security” was itself a stunning achievement.

Those “challenges” and “threats” were made clear, beginning with the most obvious one that unites the three – North Korea. This was followed by Russia’s assault on the international order in Ukraine, and in a somewhat muted fashion, China.