Prospects for US-South Korean-Japanese trilateral security cooperation

What are the contours, challenges, and opportunities in the all-important US-South Korean-Japanese trilateral security relationship during a period of rapidly evolving geopolitics in and around the Korean Peninsula? The trilateral relationship is more salient than ever in the aftermath of the accelerated nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Although assessing the intensity and depth of trilateral security cooperation or a lack thereof is hardly a new issue, the stakes are arguably the highest since the outbreak of the North Korean nuclear crisis in the early 1990s. In this Atlantic Council report, Dr. Chung-min Lee tackles the important questions of how the trilateral security relationship will respond to developments on the Korean Peninsula, and what the road ahead for the US-South Korean-Japanese relationship look like.

Image: South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (L) is greeted by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) prior to their meeting at Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Japan May 9, 2018. Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool via Reuters