The Telegraph, 18 August, 2023
The news that President Biden is hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David for a trilateral summit is far more significant than might first appear. For the President, it’s massive accomplishment, as the two countries have long had a off-and-on again bilateral relationship, enflamed by the bitter memories of Japanese colonization on the Korean Peninsula last century.
While the White House and State Department are to be commended for this win, it’s a foundational win they have yet to still build upon. The Summit itself cannot be the accomplishment, but rather it’s what the three leaders decide on leafy walks in the Maryland cabin retreat, where Presidential hospitality can be put to best effect. One hopes that Biden will meet with Yoon first to thank him for making the meeting possible at all.
Coming to office without political office, the conservative South Korean President has made it his business to radically warm ties with the United States, its long-standing ally, while also repairing the bilateral with Tokyo. This included releasing an Indo-Pacific Strategy, which saw Seoul, join the US and a number of allies and partners who also have adopted an Indo-Pacific foreign policy, and sees it renewing its engagement with the US alliance system.
This new willingness to confront its past with Japan, while embracing a regional posture – at the expense of attention on the North, the “Yoon Doctrine” has made him incredibly popular in both countries, but damaged his standing at home, where Japanese offenses are never hard to find.
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Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific 