WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden will push Camp David into the international spotlight on Friday when he hosts the leaders of Japan and South Korea there, a return to glory for a mountain retreat that has become indelible in diplomatic history.
Biden chose the rustic redoubt in the Maryland hills for the first U.S.-Japan-South Korea summit because Camp David has often been used to symbolize newfound or hard-won friendship, a senior administration official said.
"Certainly in the case of this summit, we envision Camp David kind of marking a new beginning for all of us as trilateral partners among the U.S., ROK (South Korea) and Japan. So we think the symbolism is heavy here and really can't be overstated," the official said.
Biden, Japan's Fumio Kishida and South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol are expected to meet in the historic Laurel Lodge. Their working lunch is expected to take place in the President’s Cabin, Aspen Lodge, and if the weather is good an afternoon press conference will take place outdoors in the woodsy setting.
Ties between South Korea and Japan have long been strained by disputes dating to Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
The summit will set a "new milestone" in trilateral cooperation, Yoon said on Tuesday.
He is set to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday, where they will launch a series of joint initiatives on technology, education and defence, senior U.S. officials said.
The meeting will lead to at least two joint statements by the leaders, South Korea's deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo said.
The United States, which has separate alliances with South Korea and Japan, has been pressing both countries to improve ties to ensure better cooperation on issues such as North Korea and China.
Meanwhile, North Korea has criticised the deepening military co-operation of the three countries as part of a dangerous prelude to the creation of an "Asian version of NATO".
On Monday, North Korea's state media said its leader Kim Jong Un has called for an increase in missile production to secure "overwhelming military power" and be ready for war, as South Korea and the U.S. gear up for annual military drills. North Korea and Russia agreed on broad defence co-operation when the Russian defence minister met Kim last month and watched a military parade with him in the capital, Pyongyang. — Reuters
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