Trilaterally Good, Bilaterally Not

President of the United States, Barack Obama, hosted a trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and President of Republic of Korea, Park Geun-hye, in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. While three leaders could share common idea on security policy in Northeast Asia, each bilateral meeting revealed fundamental discrepancies on their relationships. The meeting was quite businesslike and sober.

Obama introduced Abe and Park as “two of our closest ally in Asia, two of my closest friends and collaborators on the international stage.” It must be so. United States deeply involved in the reconstruction from wartime devastation in each country. “We share common values and a common vision for the future of the Asia Pacific – a vision that is rooted in our strong commitment to a rules-based order, one in which all countries, regardless of size, act according to shared norms and shared principles,” said Obama in the press conference.

The trilateral summit meeting actually reached an agreement on countermeasure against nuclear and missile development of North Korea. “We agreed during this meeting that trilateral security cooperation is essential to maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia, deterring the North Korean nuclear threat and the potential of nuclear proliferation as a consequence of North Korean activities,” announced Obama. The leaders directed their teams to elaborate additional steps for denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

Twenty minutes after the end of trilateral summit, Abe and Park faced each other for their bilateral meeting. According to the Japanese official, Abe expressed his determination to implement the agreement they had made last December. Nevertheless, they did not get into the details about the agreement on donating ¥1 billion for a foundation in South Korea that would support comfort women, or about removing statue of comfort woman in front of Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

In the bilateral meeting with Abe, Obama was apparently worried about the future of Futenma relocation plan. Also according to the Japanese official, Obama asked Abe how long the construction of alternative facility in Henoko would delay and in what way U.S. Force would be able to use current Futenma Marine Airbase. “We have not changed the attitude that Henoko relocation plan is the best and the only solution. We decided it with an idea of ‘More haste, less speed,” explained Abe.

It is unclear whether those three leaders discussed the future of United States. One of the candidates of Presidential election this fall questioned necessity of U.S. Force stationing in Japan and South Korea and required more host nation support from the two countries. Skepticism is actually cast on U.S., too.