The president of United States, Joe Bidenhas highlighted the importance of cooperation between South Korea, Japan and USAin response to the “dangerous and destabilizing cooperation of North Korea with Russia“. It has come after it was confirmed that North Korean troops have begun to participate in combat operations together with the Russian Armed Forces. against the Ukrainian.
“I am proud of how far we have come in promoting development in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, joining forces to secure the technologies of the future and countering North Korea’s dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia,” he said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum at Lima (Peru).
Biden has stressed that he “sincerely” believes that cooperation between the three countries “will be the basis for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific for many years.” “This is likely to be my last trilateral meeting with this important group, but I am proud to have contributed to building this alliance, which I believe is built to last. That is my hope and expectation,” he added.
“Fifteen months ago, we held the first summit of leaders of our three countries at Camp David in the United States, and it ushered in a new era of cooperation between our three countries. And it was part of a much larger effort over the last four years to bring America’s allies together in the Pacific,” he explained.
Response from South Korea and Japan
For his part, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that the meeting of the three leaders “demonstrates the firm commitment of the three countries to further develop cooperation.
He has also emphasized the cooperation between Russia and North Korea: “As we can see with the recent deployment of DPRK (North Korean) troops in Russia, the challenging security environment inside and outside the region reminds us once again of the importance of our trilateral cooperation“.
“The trilateral secretariat that will be launched as a result of the meeting will be a solid foundation that will lead to even greater cooperation among our three nations,” he added. Likewise, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stressed that these alliances are “essential to ensure peace and stability in the region.
“To respond effectively to international challenges of increasing complexity, our trilateral partnership has become more important than ever“, he said, specifying that it is especially significant “in terms of security”.
South Korean intelligence estimates that at least a portion of the North Korean military sent to Russia are already deployed in combat zones with Ukrainian forces, although this extreme would not necessarily imply their entry into Ukraine because there is also an open front in the Russian Kursk region.