JAPAN, United States, and South Korea plan to seal their security partnership amid expectations that former U.S. President Donald Trump could return to White House after the elections in November.
The three allied nations want to formalize their partnership known as the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework before the U.S. inaugurates its next president in January 2025.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik said he will meet his Japanese and American counterparts to sign the trilateral Security Cooperation Framework before the end of the year.
The proposed signing of the deal took place after the leaders of the three countries met on a landmark summit last year, and recently, a few weeks ago where they pledged to counter threats by North Korea such as real-time data sharing on missile launches through a trilateral agreement that is so tightly sealed it will be so hard to reverse or undo the pact.
The new framework also includes senior-level policy consultations, information-sharing, trilateral exercises, and defense exchange cooperation.
Additionally, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin proposed earlier this month to assign a four-star general in charge of the U.S. Forces in Japan.
Both South Korea and Japan have spent billions to keep thousands of American troops on their soil to which the U.S. claimed is a “powerful investment” to deter potential threats from North Korea.
Trump’s demand to increase spending on U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and Japan sparked tensions between the said countries during his time.
The Biden administration is rushing to seal the deal in case Trump will win the upcoming presidential race and block potential attempts to make future amendments.
