President Joe Biden will host a three-way summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida here in Washington next month, the White House said Friday.
The trilateral summit will be held at Camp David on Aug. 18.
"At the summit, the leaders will celebrate a new chapter in their trilateral relationship as they reaffirm their strong bonds of friendship and the ironclad alliances between the United States and Japan, and the United States and the Republic of Korea," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press release, referring to South Korea by its official name.
South Korea's presidential office also confirmed the trilateral summit will be held at Camp David on Aug. 18.
"This summit will be an important opportunity to elevate the cooperation among the three countries that share core values to a new level," presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said in a written press briefing.
"We expect the three nations to enhance the rules-based international order together and to make more active contributions to regional and global security and economic prosperity."
As for the summit's agenda, the spokesperson said the three leaders will hold in-depth discussions on policy coordination regarding the North Korean nuclear and missile threats, as well as cooperation on economic security and other major regional and global issues.
The proposed summit will be the first stand-alone trilateral summit to be held as the leaders of the US, South Korea and Japan have only held trilateral summits on the sidelines of other gatherings, such as regional meetings, in the past, Seoul officials have noted.
John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said the summit will also mark the first visit to Camp David by a foreign leader since 2015.
"At the summit, the leaders will celebrate a new chapter in their trilateral relationship, and they will reaffirm strong bonds of friendship," Kirby told a telephonic press briefing.
Particularly, the leaders will discuss threats posed by North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile programs, according to Jean-Pierre.
"The three leaders will discuss expanding trilateral cooperation across the Indo-Pacific and beyond -- including to address the continued threat posed by the DPRK and to strengthen ties with ASEAN and the Pacific Islands," the White House spokesperson said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"The summit will advance a shared trilateral vision for addressing global and regional security challenges, promoting a rules-based international order, and bolstering economic prosperity," she added.
North Korea staged an unprecedented 69 ballistic missile launches in 2022, marking a new record for the number of ballistic missiles fired in a year.
Pyongyang also launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in late May, marking its 12th ICBM test since the start of last year. (Yonhap)
