US President Joe Biden met with leaders from Japan and South Korea on Friday ( Nov. 15 ) to discuss how they could strengthen their diplomatic ties with a new Trump administration, which many fear could scuttle international alliances.
Given Donald Trump’s proclamations of steep price increases that was stifle China’s economy, the meeting between Washington and two of its closest Asian supporters occurred as tensions between the two are anticipated to intensify after his inauguration on January 20.
Tensions are even rising in Asia as a result of North Korea’s sending of troops to Russia to help Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as its nuclear weapons program and deteriorating leads for a peaceful resolution of its decades-long conflict with South Korea.
In a joint statement, South Korea and North Korea are known by their recognized names, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and condemn the actions of the leaders of the DPRK and Russia as “periculously expanding the brutality of Ukraine.”
The meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC ) Summit in Lima, Peru, brought Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who assumed office in October, together in person for the first time.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Thursday while Biden was traveling on Air Force One that the three countries had established a Trilateral Secretariat to formalize the relationship and ensure that it was n’t just” a series of meetings.”