Institutionalizing US-ROK-Japan trilateral cooperation: recent progress and future prospects

Report

Over the past two years, there has been dramatic progress in cooperation among the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the United States. Trilateral cooperation was essentially dormant at the beginning of 2022, due in large part to severe tensions in Korea-Japan relations over a series of historical, legal, economic, and territorial matters. However, since that time, the three countries have launched a joint agenda that has spurred over 50 trilateral meetings on issues ranging from security and economics to women’s empowerment and people-to-people ties. How did this striking change come about, and what lies ahead for trilateral relations as political leadership changes across the three countries? This article argues that US-ROK-Japan cooperation was central to the Biden administration’s vision for a latticework-style regional institutional architecture and that important steps have been taken by all three countries to resuscitate and institutionalize trilateral relations, which are now on a stronger footing. Although domestic political shifts may lead to increased uncertainty in the future, shared concerns will continue to push the three countries together, and the efforts of the last two years will help to mitigate future tensions among them, primarily by offering more institutional channels for consultation, coordination, and cooperation that can be utilized during difficult times.

Authors: Govella, K

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies and George Washington University Institute for Korean Studies
• Series: US-ROK Policy Brief Series
• Series number: 4
• Place of publication: Washington DC, USA
• Publication date: 2024-12-01
• Language: English
• Keywords: South Korea; Japan; United States