The South Korean leader has called for stronger cooperation with the United States and Japan, including collaboration on reconnaissance assets, to counter North Korea’s growing nuclear threats.
“The significance of ROK-U.S.-Japan trilateral security cooperation is increasingly growing on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,” Mr. Yoon said, referring to South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.
This will be the first time the three leaders gather specifically for a trilateral summit rather than on the sidelines of international meetings. U.S. officials said the leaders would announce plans for expanded military cooperation on ballistic missile defense and technology development.
South Korea, Japan Pursue Common Interests
Mr. Yoon’s speech marked the 78th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 35-year colonial rule in 1945. Past South Korean presidents commonly used Liberation Day speeches to ask Japan to make fresh apologies for its colonial wrongdoing.
But Mr. Yoon, a conservative who has pushed to resolve the historical grievance as a way to boost cooperation, didn’t do so and instead explained again why improved ties with Japan were needed.
“The seven rear bases provided to the United Nations Command (UNC) by the government of Japan serve as the greatest deterrent, which keeps the North from invading the South,” he remarked.
“A renewed North Korean invasion will trigger an automatic and immediate intervention and retaliation by the UNC, and the UNC rear in Japan is sufficiently equipped with necessary land, sea, and air capabilities,” Mr. Yoon said.
Mr. Yoon referred to Japan as a partner with whom South Korea shares “universal values and pursues common interests.”
“As partners that cooperate on security and the economy, Korea and Japan will be able to jointly contribute to peace and prosperity across the globe while collaborating and exchanging in a future-oriented manner.”
In June, the defense chiefs of the United States, Japan, and South Korea met on the sidelines of a security conference in Singapore and agreed to launch a data-sharing mechanism by the end of the year.
North Korea has been ramping up tension with South Korea and the United States by testing various weapons, including its biggest intercontinental ballistic missile. Since the start of 2022, North Korea has fired more than 100 missiles.
Many of the missiles tested were nuclear-capable weapons that place both South Korea and Japan within striking distance and could potentially reach the United States.
