Photo/Illutration From left, U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol meet in May on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima. (Koichi Ueda)

Strengthening nuclear nonproliferation efforts will be included in two documents released during the trilateral summit involving Japan, the United States and South Korea on the outskirts of Washington, sources said.

The meeting to start on Aug. 18 at Camp David between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is the first one scheduled between the three leaders, who will be joined by their foreign ministers.

According to a Japanese government source, one document, called the Camp David principles, will lay out basic conventions behind trilateral cooperation, such as the importance of upholding international order based on the rule of law and strengthening nuclear nonproliferation.

A separate joint statement will list specific cooperative measures to be implemented, including regular meetings between officials of the three nations to discuss national security cooperation.

To emphasize a rejection of any unilateral effort to change the status quo through force, the Camp David principles will touch upon the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the various economic and military moves being made by China. The document will call for respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It will also include wording to strengthen efforts at nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation so that nuclear weapons are never again used.

The separate joint statement will call for regular meetings on national security at the levels of national leader, foreign minister, defense minister and senior government official in charge of national security.

Takeo Akiba, secretary-general of the National Security Secretariat, is expected to represent Japan at the fourth level of such meetings.

The measure is designed to set up a structure for discussions and cooperation that can be maintained even if there is a change in government in any of the three nations.

The joint statement will also stress the importance of cooperation in economic security, such as strengthening the supply chain for semiconductors and important minerals.

Other areas in which trilateral cooperation will be deepened include joint military exercises, intelligence sharing and cybersecurity.

At an Aug. 15 news conference, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the summit will mark “a new era in trilateral cooperation among our countries.”

He added that one expected result of the summit would be “collaboration on a trilateral basis that is further institutionalized in a variety of ways.”

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