“Security on the Korean Peninsula.” - Dr. Victor D. Cha

The Meaning of Camp David The positive development relates to the vast improvement in trilateral relations between the United States, Japan, and South Korea. [...] The United States had troops deployed in both countries and the “Korea Clause” of the 1969 Nixon-Sato Joint Communique and Okinawa Reversion plan affirmed the role that Japan would play in Korean defense. [...] The scope of agreements reached is impressive: the institutionalization of trilateral meetings at the leader level and at the cabinet/minister level; the creation of a new, named set of trilateral exercises; and many other areas of cooperation scoped out in the Spirit of Camp David statement including: (1) securing supply chains, (2) combatting disinformation, and (3) promoting coordinated develop. [...] The possibility of a return to foreign policy by the United States that denigrates allies in Europe and Asia and views them as liabilities rather than assets creates an impulse to try to institutionalize trilateral cooperation now to avoid uncertainty in the future. [...] China’s massive nuclear buildup, North Korea’s drive to become a nuclear weapons state the size of France, and most of all, Russia’s war in Europe have fundamentally changed the security environment in the region and on the Korean peninsula in ways that have compelled countries who support the peaceful status quo to respond.