By Janet Ekstract
NEW YORK- At a White House press briefing on August 15, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that the top priority for the U.S. is to enhance alliances, broaden partnerships and to emphasize a shared vision of a “free and open, prosperous, secure, resilient, and connected” Indo-Pacific. To that end, Blinken announced that U.S. President Joe Biden will host a “historic summit” at Camp David on Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and South Korean President Yoon. Blinken said it will be the first time foreign leaders have visited Camp David since 2015 and the first “standalone summit ever” between Japan, Korea and the U.S. Blinken emphasized the singular importance of this summit and said that he had been working on increasing understanding and collaboration between the U.S., Japan and Korea for years.
Blinken said the summit will “strengthen practical cooperation” on diverse priorities that include physical and economic security, humanitarian assistance to development finance as well as global health and critical, emerging technologies. The secretary of state said the summit will “mark what we believe is a new era in trilateral cooperation among our countries.” He added that he already spoke to the foreign ministers of both countries in preparation for Friday’s historic summit. The summit is crucial, Blinken said, because “our region and the world are being tested by geopolitical competition, by climate crisis, by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, by nuclear provocations.”
The secretary of state emphasized that Japan and South Korea are “core allies” not only in the Indo-Pacific region but globally as well. He highlighted that creating even stronger “trilateral cooperation” is essential to “delivering for our people, for the region and for the world.” By broadening these relationships, Blinken said peace and stability can be promoted as well as furthering “our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” He added that such a summit encourages “shared values” and moves the principles of the U.N. Charter forward which includes “sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity” and allows the three nations to develop additional opportunities and prosperity on all sides.
He said the Biden administration’s efforts to broaden cooperation with both nations is part of even greater efforts “to revitalize, to strengthen, to knit together our alliances and partnerships.” Blinken added and most crucial, an Indo-Pacific region where countries remain free to navigate their “own path and to find their own partners.” He also highlighted, a region where everyone can deal with issues in an open manner, where agreements are made in a transparent way and where rules are applied in a fair manner as well as a region where “goods, ideas, and people can flow lawfully and freely.”
