Biden, Yoon, Kishida Hold First Trilateral Talks Since 2017

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, and US President Joe Biden have held the first major trilateral meeting between the three countries since 2017.

• Yoon and Kishida had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the summit gala dinner yesterday. Yoon informed Kishida of his intentions to address outstanding issues in South Korea-Japan relations following the upcoming Japanese House of Councillors elections.
• The ROK government says that Kishida expressed his gratitude to Yoon and the Prime Minister said: “I know that you’re making efforts for the sake of South Korea-Japan relations."
• Biden opened today's talks by thanking his fellow leaders and declaring that "trilateral cooperation is essential" on regional issues like North Korean missile tests.
• Biden praised both ROK and Japan for their response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• The significance of the meeting should not be understated. a mediation of the resumption of the ROK-Japan bilateral relationship is a key foreign policy objective of the Biden administration and a robust trilateral relationship is a pillar of future US policy to contain China.
• The US delegation included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
• The ROK delegation included Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Park Jin, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae Hyo, and Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Choi Sang Mok.
• The Japanese delegation included Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara Seill, National Security Advisor Akiba Takeo, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Yamada Shigeo, and Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister Nakagome Masashi.