South Korea’s expectations of a rapprochement with the United States and Japan

2 mins

With our correspondent in Seoul, Nicholas Rocca

If this unprecedented summit should not lead to a formal alliance between the three countries, it should give rise to significant military and economic rapprochement.

US bases in Japan are the best deterrent to a North Korean invasion, the South Korean president said on Tuesday. A way to show that Seoul’s security depends on its Japanese neighbor, despite criticism and the persistence of anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea.

At Camp David, Yoon Suk-yeol should first plead for increased cooperation in defense matters, in particular concerning real-time sharing of information on the firing of North Korean ballistic missiles. A red line should also be installed between the three capitals to improve communication in the event of a crisis. A way to institutionalize cooperation beyond political alternations.

On the economic level, any announcements on semiconductors will be closely scrutinized in Seoul as the two South Korean giants in the sector are investing heavily in the United States while keeping their factories in China. For Yoon Suk-yeol, the strengthening of trilateral cooperation seems to be a necessity because he plays a large part of his political credit on his diplomatic strategy.

■ Beijing and Pyongyang in the sights

For Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, the objective of this tripartite meeting is to initiate a ” new era of trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. A geopolitical rapprochement that China does not see favorably.

For Antoine Bondaz, researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research, Beijing and Pyongyang are undoubtedly the targets of this meeting, which would aim in particular to get rid of Chinese economic influence.