Description
Since the advent of the Camp David Agreement in August 2023, decision-makers in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington have substantially enhanced cooperation between their three countries, particularly in security and defence policy. Historically, such cooperation has oftens seemed like an elusive goal. During the 1960s and subsequently, the United States frequently sought to overcome historical tensions and the legacies of the Japanese colonial period in Korea that ensured that popular opinion in both Japan and South Korea remained stubbornly resistant to the idea of closer bilateral let alone trilateral cooperation. This paper considers the factors that have helped minimise such tensions and considers which actors in the three countries have been most active in fostering cooperation as well as the regional and global contextual issues driving the new trilateral partnership. The paper also considers the impact of the new Trump administration and weakened and arguably increasingly unpopular leadership in Tokyo and Seoul when thinking about future security cooperation.
