Challenge to Korea, US or Japan will be considered 'challenge to all': White House official

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Wed, November 29, 2023 | 04:31

Foreign Affairs

Challenge to Korea, US or Japan will be considered 'challenge to all': White House official

Posted : 2023-08-22 15:46

Updated : 2023-08-22 16:53

White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell, center, speaks during a joint news conference on the outcomes of the inaugural session of the Nuclear Consultative Group between Korea and the United States at the presidential office in Seoul, July 18. Yonhap

The leaders of Korea, the United States and Japan agreed to commit to crisis consultation during their trilateral summit last week based on the recognition that "a challenge to any one of us is a challenge to all of us," a senior White House official said Tuesday.

Kurt Campbell, U.S. National Security Council (NSC) coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, made the remark at a digital press briefing following the three-way summit held at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where the leaders signed a series of documents agreeing to boost security and economic cooperation.

"I think if you read the documents carefully, they're based on an understanding that a challenge to any one of us is a challenge to all of us, and I think that's an important recognition and one that we intend to build on," Campbell said.

He also stressed that trilateral efforts to bolster security do not target China despite Beijing's concerns.

"I do not believe that these countries ― the United States, Japan and Korea ― believe that they are taking steps aimed at China," Campbell said. "I think they're taking steps they believe to protect themselves, to ensure that the progress that they've made is protected and secured, and to work more closely together in a world increasingly uncertain."

Campbell noted that Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's decision to "firmly back" Moscow have had an "unnerving" effect on Northeast Asian countries. "This anxiety has provoked a desire for countries who are more like-minded to make sure that we are working together constructively."

"We've seen a number of steps on the part of China that are provocative, a massive military buildup and a number of steps that have caused anxiety not just in Japan and Korea but in the region as a whole," he said.

He further added that the summit provided an opportunity for the countries to "work together in ways constructively and peacefully to preserve the operating system, the democratic engagement that we all share between the United States, Japan and Korea."

On ways to ensure the institutionalization of trilateral cooperation, Campbell said the initiative is a "very ambitious agenda" that requires the commitment of the three countries.

"I think it's appropriate to have some ambition for these trilateral engagements but at the same time to realize that steps have to be taken carefully, and we cannot get ahead of the political context that each of us deals with," he said. (Yonhap)