Remarks by President Biden, President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan in Joint Press Conference

Press Conference

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Camp David.

If I seem like I'm happy, it's because I am. This has been a great, great meeting.

Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, I -- we meet in this historic place to make a historic moment. And I believe that to be true. The -- this is a new era in partnership between Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States -- our new Camp David trilat. That's what we have here.

And -- but before we dive into the progress we've made today -- if you excuse, we used to say in the Senate, "a point of personal privilege" -- I want to start by expressing my appreciation for the contribution that your countries have made toward the relief following the devastating wildfires in Hawaii. I want to thank you both on behalf of the American people.

I also want to note that my team is closely monitoring Hurricane Hilary, which is -- has the potential to bring significant rain and flooding to southern California. FEMA has pre-positioned personnel and supplies in the region, and they're ready to respond as needed. I urge everyone -- everyone in the path of this storm to take precautions and listen to the guidance from state and local officials.

And you've heard me say it before: The Republic of Korea and Japan are capable and indispensable allies.

Now, to the purpose of why we're here.

America's commitment to both countries is ironclad, and my personal commitment to bringing these three nations together was real from the very beginning.

Since last summer, we've met on the margins of the NATO Summit in Spain, the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia, and the G7 Summit in Japan. And today, we've made history with the first-ever standalone summit between the leaders of our three countries, as well as our commitment to meet together on the leader level annually and to have all of our relative Cabinet-member people meet on a regular basis for -- from this point on; not just this year, not next year -- forever. That's the i- -- that's the intention.

And so, I want to recognize the important work that both of you have done and the political courage -- and I mean this sincerely -- the political courage that you've both demonstrated to resolve difficult issues that would've stood in the way for a long time of a close relationship between Japan and Korea and with the United States.

Your leadership, with the full support of the United States, has brought us here, because each of you understands that our world stands at an inflection point -- a point where we're called to lead in new ways: to work together, to stand together. And today, I'm proud to say our nations are answering that call.

First, we're elevating our trilateral defense collaboration to deliver in the Indo-Pacific region. That includes launching annual multidomain military exercises, bringing our trilateral defense cooperation to an unprecedented levels.

We're doubling down on information sharing, including on the DPRK's missile launches and cyber activities, strengthening our ballistic missile defense cooperation.

And, critically -- critically, we've all committed to swiftly consult with each other in response to threats to any one of our countries from whatever source it occurs. That means we'll have a hotline to share information and coordinate our responses whenever there is a crisis in the region or affecting any one of our countries.

And today, we've reaffirmed -- all reaffirmed our shared commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and addressing ec- -- and addressing economic coercion.

We're going to continue to counter threats from the DPRK, including cryptocurrency money laundering to the tune of billions of dollars; potential arms transfer in support of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine.

And together -- together, we're going to stand up for international law, freedom of navigation, and the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea.

Second, we're expanding our economic cooperation to build an Ino -- an Indo-Pacific that is peaceful and prosperous.

Today, we've committed to launch a new -- what we call a "Supply Chain Early Warning System" -- excuse me, a Supply Chain Early Warning System Pilot and -- which will alert our nations to disruptions of certain products and materials, like critical minerals or batteries, so we can get ahead of the issues as we -- they appear with the experience -- that we've experienced in -- during the pandemic.

(Referring to a piece of audio equipment.) Excuse me, this is falling off. There you go.

And -- and building on the G7-led Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, we're deepening cooperation between our development finance institutions to mobilize more financing for quality infrastructure and secure communications technology to help low-income and middle-income countries throughout the region take on the challenges that matter most to their people.

And finally, our partnership is about building a better future for our people. That's why we're deepening our cooperation on global health and launching a trilateral expert exchange in support of the U.S. Cancer Moonshot initiative. That's going to, I believe, change cancer as we know it.

It matters a great deal to me and to families all across our three countries. In the United States, we are revolutionizing the way we do cancer research. And together, the three of us, I am confident we can harness our shared spirit of innovation and end cancer as we know it.

We're also launching a new collaboration between our National Laboratories and advance our science knowledge and technological capabilities together. As we do, we'll work in lockstep to set the standards for safe, secure, and trustworthy emerging technology, including artificial intelligence, which a lot of work has to be done on.

Let me close with this. Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, this is the first summit I've hosted at Camp David as President. I can think of no more fitting location to begin the next era -- our next era of cooperation -- a place that has long symbolized the power of new beginnings and new possibilities.

In the months and years ahead, we're going to continue to seize those possibilities together -- unwavering in our unity and unmatched in our resolve. This is not about a day, a week, or month. This is about decades and decades of relationships that we're building.

Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. President, I want to thank you for your leader, and I -- leadership -- and I say it again -- for your courage that brought us together. And I look forward to working with you both of you ahead.

Now I yield to -- who am I yielding to?

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There you go.

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We needed the voice of God to tell us that.

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President.

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Aamer, with the AP.

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Well, first of all, look, there's not much, if anything, I agree on with my predecessor on foreign policy. His America First policy, walking away from the rest of the world, has made us weaker, not stronger.

America is strong with our allies and our alliances, and that's why we will endure. And it's a strength that -- quite frankly, that increases all the -- three of our strengths.

This is just about one summit. What makes today different is it actually launches a series of initiatives that are actually institutional changes in how we deal with one another -- in security cooperation, economic cooperation, technology cooperation, development cooperation, consultation exercises. And all of this will create (inaudible) momentum, I believe, year by year, month by month, to make the relationship stronger and more certain to remain to be in place.

And with regard -- on these esult- -- results, I think you're going to keep it going. And I think you're going to benefit all our countries.

And with regard to the second question, I make -- I have no comment on any investigation that's going on. That's up to the Justice Department, and that's all I have to say.

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I -- look, back in May of 2022, I met with the families of the Japanese abductees during my visit, heard their stories, and empathized with them and got a sense of the pain they're feeling. It's real.

We know there are many families out there who still wait and worry and wonder. We're not going to forget about them or their loved ones.

And there's clear language on this on our joint statement. The bottom line is this: that we share a common position. We're committed to working together to see the return of all prisoners of war and -- and those who've been abducted and detained.

And by the way, one of the things we get asked many times -- and it wasn't directly asked, but implied -- is what makes us think any of this is positive.

Success brings success. When other nations see cooperation in the region, they make judgments about: Would they be better off if they made commitments? Will they move?

Think about -- as students of history, all of you -- and you are -- think about how many times successes have generated other successes when you don't anticipate it.

And so, I -- I just think this is a -- we're not going to forget, we're not giving up, and we're going to continue to make the case for the freedom of all of those detainees.

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And you have a great imagination. One question ends up being six. But, thank you. I'll try to answer all of it. I'm glad I didn't have you as my law professor when he said "one question." At any rate, they're all legitimate questions.

Look, on Ukraine, I and my country and the leadership of my country in both parties are very grateful for everything Japan is helping to deal with in Ukraine. And I mean that sincerely. You've showed strong leadership through the G7 as well and contributed to a significant amount of financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, as well as nonlethal military equipment.

And, you know -- and they joined so many other nations in holding Russia accountable through their international sanctions.

If my memory serves me well -- and I think it does, Mr. Prime Minister -- we found ourselves in a circumstance where, when I called you about Ukraine, I didn't have to convince you of anything. I started off to make the case that Ukraine was a circumstance where -- to think, in the first quarter of the 20th century, another country would amass over 150,000 forces on the border of another country -- or 150,000 forces and invade that country -- invade that country without any rationale other than -- if you read Putin's speech after he invaded, he talked about Kyiv being the motherland. You know, I mean, it just was ridiculous, I think. And he talked about being Peter the Great. It was --

Just imagine if we had done nothing. Imagine if we had done nothing.

And the point was immediately recognized, if I'm not mistaken, by you, Mr. Prime Minister, that we're
in a situation where it could happen anywhere. If we stand -- if we had stood still, what signal would that send to China about Taiwan? What signal would that send around the world if nations weren't powerful on borders?

But here's the deal. You contributed significantly to what, I think, is already the --

Let me put it this way. Russia has already lost. It cannot meet its original objective which it stated. It's not possible.

But -- and they've joined so many other nations in holding Russia accountable for international sanctions. But Japan's leadership, from day one, it has been critical for making it clear that the consequences for war extend well beyond Europe -- well beyond Europe.

I say it in reverse. What would happen if an Asian country with 150,000 troops invaded another? You think that would not affect the interests, the economy, and -- and the foreign policy of nations in Europe and Latin America all across the world? It would have profound impact.

And with Japan's leadership, from day one, it has been critical to making clear the consequences of this will extend well beyond Europe -- well beyond Europe. It's a global issue that has impacts everywhere. And the Prime Minister's comments at Shangri La capture that.

And by the way, you know, we talked about this being an inflection point. The world is changing. The world is changing. And about every six or seven generations, it makes significant change. And there's a lot happening.

And the idea that we're going to sit down, the rest of the world, and say, "Well, that's only a European problem." There hasn't been that kind of invasion since World War Two.

And so -- as for peace, we all want that, of course. Ukrainians want it most of all. And my team has been working very closely with the -- President Zelenskyy's team and further peace formula, noting that "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."

But nonetheless, we're meeting with them constantly -- constantly.

And your other two questions about China -- I'll just say this: This summit was not about China. That was not the purpose of the meeting. But it did come -- China obviously came up. Not to say we don't share concerns about the economic coercion or heightened tensions caused by China, but this summit was really about our relationship with each other and deepening cooperation across an entire range of issues that went well beyond just the immediate issues we raised.

It was about more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific -- a region, quite frankly, that would benefit everyone living there and around the world if we get it right. It's not just here. It has a phenomenal impact.

Think about what's -- at any rate, I won't get going. I'll take too long.

But as you've seen from the initiatives we're announcing here, today is just how committed we are to see this vision take place. And I think this relationship that we put together and I think we're going to -- you're going to see it expand. It's not merely what we did today. This is a historic meeting.

But we're about to -- we've laid in place a long-term structure for a relationship that will last and have a phenomenal impact not just in Asia, but around the world.

Someone once said in a different context that -- about a health- -- a healthcare provision in my country a while ago: This is a big deal. This is a big deal.

Thank you.

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They have to answer their questions.

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To answer your question, I expect and hope to follow up on our conversation on Bali this fall. That's my expectation. Thank you.

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We're winning all the competition.

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