Eye on China, Biden Pulls Japan and South Korea Closer
New York TimesAug 17, 2023
US Pres. Joe Biden, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, and South Korean Pres. Yoon Suk Yeol agreed to strengthen security and economic cooperation on Friday after trilateral talks at Camp David.
The three leaders announced a three-way hotline, a "commitment to consult," and a pledge to conduct annual joint drills and share intelligence inputs.
As a neo-Cold War looms in East Asia with a growing alignment among China, North Korea, and Russia, Tokyo and Seoul have finally shown openness to form a three-way partnership with the US to deepen security, economic, and tech cooperation. Following Moscow's aggression against Ukraine and possible threats from China, precautionary and concrete steps must be taken to support regional stability.
Kishida and Yoon are so narrow-minded that they have failed to realize they will have to choose whether to take advantage of Asia-Pacific economic and social prosperity or become US pawns in the region, as there is no such thing as a perfect balance. America's ultimate goal is to disrupt peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and destroy the positive economic environment in Asia.
There's a 19% chance that the US will withdraw from any of its current mutual defense treaties by 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.