Rare Japan-South Korea summit could help US’s push against China
The second meeting in two months between leaders of Japan and South Korea after years without a formal summit marks another win for the Biden administration, which has sought to unite the allies to cooperate against North Korea and undercut China’s growing power.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Sunday for talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The two are seeking to bolster business and military cooperation with the U.S. even while remaining mindful of the importance of keeping ties steady with their biggest trading partner, China.
It’s a delicate balance as Washington and Beijing squabble over everything from the supply of chips and cutting-edge technology, to an alleged Chinese spy balloon being shot down over American skies and China’s partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the forefront too is an increasingly belligerent North Korea, which fired an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the U.S. just hours before Kishida and Yoon held a summit in Tokyo in March.
The Biden administration has been seeking help from its global partners such as Seoul and Tokyo to impose sweeping curbs on the sale of advanced chips equipment to China in a policy aimed at preventing the country’s progression in a range of cutting-edge technologies that could threaten America’s status as a preeminent power.
U.S. efforts may have been behind the restoration of Seoul-Tokyo ties, said Kak Soo Shin, a former career diplomat who once served as South Korea’s ambassador to Japan. Drivers could have also included concerns both countries share over the volatile security environment, mainly the challenge of addressing the North Korean nuclear threat and a “coercive China,” he said.
“It has been quite abnormal for Korea and Japan to leave their relationship in such a miserable situation for such a long time,” Shin said. “It was a lose-lose situation that the two countries have been trapped in a vicious cycle of fraying relationship, even though they could be natural strategic partners amid the flux of their strategic settings.”
Kishida and Yoon are likely to discuss issues surrounding security and high-tech industries, as well as seek to restore shuttle diplomacy that was derailed more than a decade ago to political friction, the South Korea president’s office said.
A formal summit between the two leaders was held in March in Tokyo for the first time in 12 years, followed by a security dialog in April and a meeting of their finance ministers last week.
Yoon has been a supporter of Washington’s Asia strategy, including Biden’s initiative to restructure global supply chains to reduce dependence on China. Japan in March said it will expand restrictions on exports of 23 types of leading-edge chipmaking technology, even as its trade officials repeatedly said it was not targeted at China.
The last visit by a Japanese premier to South Korea came in 2018 when then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the opening of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and held talks separately with then-President Moon Jae-in. The last formal summit in Seoul by a Japanese leader was in
October 2011.
Yoon has proposed a resolution for the long-standing dispute over compensation for Japan’s use of Korean forced labor during its 1910-45 occupation of the peninsula. His proposal, which involves South Korean companies contributing to a compensation fund for conscripted Korean workers, has not been well-received by the majority of the local public.
The payments were meant to avoid forcing Japanese companies to provide compensation, in line with Tokyo’s contention that all such claims were settled under a 1965 agreement. Biden’s administration welcomed the move, calling it a “groundbreaking” deal.
In the wake of the move, South Korea reinstated Japan to its list of preferred trading partners in April. Later that month, Japan’s trade ministry started seeking public opinions on restoring South Korea to Tokyo’s list of preferred trading partners, in a procedural step that would eventually streamline the export processes to South Korea.
A key task for Kishida is to understand the domestic criticism Yoon has faced on his proposal to end the dispute over compensation, said Naoko Aoki, an associate political scientist at the Rand Corp. in Washington.
“I don’t think Prime Minister Kishida can make everyone happy, but whether he can allay some of the concerns being voiced in South Korea would be an important part of the visit,” she said.
On the security front, the combined military and technological capabilities between South Korea and Japan, backed by the U.S., could contribute to a more robust defense and intelligence network in the region.
A group of 43 Senate Republicans including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said they’d oppose allowing a vote on legislation increasing the U.S. debt limit with no strings attached, saying “substantive spending and budget reforms” must be part of the package.
The group’s letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer included almost every Republican in the chamber and showed they have the votes to block legislation, raising the stakes on President Joe Biden and Democrats who control the chamber.
“Our economy is in free fall due to unsustainable fiscal policies,” GOP senators said in the letter. “This trajectory must be addressed with fiscal reforms.”
The letter comes amid mounting pressure to raise the $ 31.4 trillion borrowing limit and avert a catastrophic U. S. payments default. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told U.S. lawmakers on Monday that her department’s ability to use special accounting maneuvers to stay within the federal debt limit could be exhausted as soon as June 1.
Biden and top congressional leaders are due to meet Tuesday for highly anticipated talks amid the stalemate. Democrats have said they will negotiate