Japan, the United States and South Korea are considering making their trilateral summits a regular event to demonstrate their close ties amid growing security threats from North Korea and China, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
The plan is likely to be discussed when U.S. President Joe Biden hosts the leaders of the two Asian security allies on Aug. 18 at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, near Washington, the sources said.
The three-way summit, involving Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, is scheduled to be held as Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development and Beijing's increasing military assertiveness have been jeopardizing the regional security environment.
Japan, the United States and South Korea have been seeking to bolster their close cooperation in areas such as security and economy through regular communication between their leaders, the sources said.
The upcoming talks would be the first standalone summit among the leaders, although they have held trilateral meetings on the fringes of international conferences and other occasions.
Kishida, Biden and Yoon last met together in May on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The three counties are expected to continue exchanging views on whether they should hold trilateral summits regularly, and how often they would take place, the sources said.
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