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President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea (left) speaks during a summit with President Joe Biden of the US and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Nov. 13. (Yoon Woon-sik/The Hankyoreh)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met for a trilateral summit on Sunday in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where they reaffirmed in a joint statement that a nuclear test by North Korea would be “met with a strong and resolute response from the international community.”

South Korea, the US, and Japan vowed to share North Korean missile warning data in real time and to launch a dialogue among the three countries on economic security. The joint statement covers many issues including maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, emphasizing the three nations’ commitment to stand with Ukraine, and working together to strengthen supply chains for emerging technologies.

This was the first time that the leaders of the three countries chose to adopt a comprehensive joint statement.

Yoon gave a 15-minute speech at the beginning of the trilateral summit Sunday in which he characterized coordination between the three nations as a “strong bulwark” when it came to “safeguarding universal values and attaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”

The South Korean president used the occasion to send a message to North Korea, which has ramped up shows of force in recent days.

“North Korea, emboldened by its nuclear and missile capabilities, is attempting even more hostile and aggressive provocations,” the South Korean president said, adding that the North’s recent decision to go ahead with repeated missile tests “lays bare the Kim Jong Un regime’s true inclinations that completely go against humanitarianism and humanism.”

The “Phnom Penh Statement on Trilateral Partnership for the Indo-Pacific,” which was announced after the three countries’ summit, included that “President Biden reiterated that the U.S. commitment to defend Japan and the ROK is ironclad and backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear.”

It is also stated that “the Leaders [of the three countries] intend to share DPRK missile warning data in real time to improve each country’s ability to detect and assess the threat posed by incoming missiles, a major step for deterrence, peace and stability,” referring to North Korea by its official name.

In a bilateral summit held just before their trilateral summit with Kishida, Yoon and Biden once again underscored the need for ways to strengthen extended deterrence. In regard to the Inflation Reduction Act, an unresolved issue between Korea and the US, Yoon noted during the summit that “close channels of deliberation are in operation” between the two countries, according to a press release provided by the South Korean presidential office.

According to the same document, Biden remarked that South Korean companies make a major contribution to the US economy in the areas of automobiles and electric batteries and said that the way the Inflation Reduction Act is implemented should be discussed in light of that fact.

In addition, Yoon said he looked forward to cooperating with the US in connection with Korea’s strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, which was announced during Yoon’s attendance at the ASEAN Plus Three summit. ASEAN Plus Three consists of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, along with South Korea, China and Japan.

Yoon also said that Korea intends to officially take part in Partners in the Blue Pacific, a group led by the US and Japan that seeks to promote cooperation with island nations in the Pacific region.

After wrapping up his summit with Japan, the final item on the day’s itinerary, Yoon proceeded to Bali, Indonesia, for the summit of the Group of 20 (G-20). Yoon will deliver a keynote address on Monday for the Business 20 summit, which is attended by the heads of corporations and economic organizations from the G-20 member countries, and then make a speech during the G20 summit session on food, energy, security, and public health on Tuesday before returning home.

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter; Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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