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President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea (right) shakes hands with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan during the latter’s visit to Seoul on May 7 for a summit. (presidential office pool photo)

After their summit on Sunday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasized the need for stronger bilateral coordination and trilateral security cooperation with the US, citing the gravity of the international political situation and the North Korean threat.

Yoon also opened the way for Japan to take part in discussions on strengthening South Korea-US extended deterrence, explaining during a joint press conference after the South Korea-Japan summit that the Washington Declaration agreed upon at a South Korea-US summit last month “does not rule out Japan’s participation.”

The Washington Declaration lays the groundwork for the formation of a South Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).

Explaining that the declaration was “agreed upon as a base between South Korea and the US,” he went on to stress, “Our position is that the Washington Declaration between South Korea and the US has not been finalized but is still under discussion, and its content will need to be filled out in the process of joint planning and execution.”

“It’s a matter where we’re first getting it off the ground, and then Japan would be able to cooperate at any time once the preparations are made in terms of Japan’s relations with the US,” he continued.

While it would not take place in the immediate future, his remarks left open the possibility of creating a trilateral extended deterrence consultative framework that also includes Japan.

Stronger trilateral security cooperation with South Korea and Japan is a key aim of the US amid its strategic focus on keeping China in check. In a joint press conference after their April 26 summit in Washington, Yoon and US President Joe Biden announced that they had “agreed to continue our efforts in strengthening Korea-US-Japan trilateral cooperation.”

Through stronger security coordination with Seoul and Tokyo, Washington is attempting to curb not only North Korea but also China and Russia.

In response, a senior official with the South Korean presidential office explained, “They aren’t talking about expanding the South Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group that we just created into a trilateral or quadrilateral framework itself.”

“Now that South Korea and the US have agreed to create a separate NCG, they are going to need to have concrete discussions in that area,” the official added.

“The message is that once the South Korea-US NCG has taken root, there could be additional discussions toward extended deterrence involving South Korea, the US and Japan,” they said.

Yoon and Kishida also said they had confirmed and welcomed the discussions taking place among officials on the real-time sharing of North Korean missile warning data, as agreed upon at a trilateral summit with the US in Phnom Penh last November.

On April 14, the first Defense Trilateral Talks in three years were held in the US with South Korea and Japan. During those talks, the three sides developed plans for the real-time sharing of missile warning data.

The meeting included discussions on linking the South Korea-US and US-Japan information-sharing systems based on the Trilateral Information Sharing Arrangement currently operating among the three sides, along with the scope of missile warning data to be shared — including anticipated launch points, flight directions, and impact points.

South Korea and Japan also agreed on steps to rein in China.

In the press conference, Yoon said, “We share an awareness of the strategic importance of the Indo-Pacific region, and we made plans to cooperate and communicate closely in the implementation of South Korea’s ‘Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific’ and Japan’s ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ frameworks.”

Kishida appeared to target China with remarks about “visible attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo in the region by force.” The Indo-Pacific strategy is a US strategic framework for containing and pressing China.

Emphasizing not only the North Korean nuclear threat but a more general global crisis, the South Korean and Japanese leaders stressed the need for bilateral security cooperation at the level of a “quasi-alliance,” if not an actual alliance.

“In a severe global political situation and a global polycrisis, cooperation and coordination between South Korea and Japan are absolutely necessary not only for our shared interests but for world peace and prosperity,” Yoon declared.

He went on to call for the two sides to “work together to uphold” universal values of freedom, human rights, and the rule of law.

By Kwon Hyuk-chul, staff reporter

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