Can Japan, South Korea seal ‘historic’ security alliance at US summit amid China, North Korea threat?

A formal security alliance between Japan and South Korea may be difficult to conclude, but a pact involving the US ‘would be much easier to achieve’, analysts say

While Japan welcomes improved ties with South Korea, questions remain about the sustainability of agreements given previous track record

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US President Joe Biden will host Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol at Camp David later this month. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:30am, 4 Aug 2023Updated: 8:13pm, 4 Aug 2023

The United States hopes to convince Japan and South Korea to more explicitly link their defence commitments when the two Asian nations’ leaders attend a trilateral summit at Camp David later this month, although analysts believe a formal bilateral security alliance may be difficult to conclude.

A trilateral arrangement involving the US is likely to be easier to achieve, although experts say such a pact would still face numerous obstacles, not least opposition from other regional powers that have already expressed concern about the evolution of an “Asian Nato” security grouping.

US President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on August 18, and it has been reported that he will propose that Tokyo and Seoul reach an agreement under which each government would have the duty to consult the other in the event of an attack on it.

The Financial Times on August 2 reported that Biden was hoping for a “historic joint statement” at the end of the summit that would commit Japan and South Korea to closer communications on security issues and for the two nations to confirm they had “mutual vulnerabilities”, a broad term that is understood to refer to China and North Korea.

The aim is for Kishida and Yoon to agree that they need to work more closely together to improve their joint deterrent capability and commence defence coordination and cooperation.

“Basically, an agreement on security like this could be a plus for all three parties, but I fear that if they try to go for a full treaty, it will involve too much politics, too much bureaucracy, and use up too much political capital,” said Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, an assistant professor of international relations at the University of Tokyo.

“But if they are just talking about greater cooperation and coordination, then that is doable and would build on what we have already seen since the Yoon administration came to power,” he told This Week in Asia.