Biden meets South Korea, Japan leaders for pre-Trump huddle on risk

U.S. President Joe Biden met with Japanese and South Korean leaders on as they sought to cement their diplomatic progress ahead of a new Trump administration that many fear could upend alliances worldwide.

The meeting between Washington and two of its closest Asian allies came as U.S. relations with Beijing are expected to grow more confrontational after Donald Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, given his promises of sharp tariff hikes that could hobble China's economy.

North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia to support Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as North Korea's nuclear weapons program and dimming prospects for a peaceful resolution to a decades-long conflict with South Korea are also raising tensions in Asia.

"Japan, the ROK, and the United States strongly condemn the decisions by the leaders of the DPRK and Russia to dangerously expand Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine," said a joint statement, referring to South Korea and North Korea by their official names, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Lima, Peru, brought Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who assumed office in October, together in person for the first time.

After the meeting the three countries announced the creation of a Trilateral Secretariat designed to formalize the relationship and make sure it was not just "a series of meetings," national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters traveling with Biden aboard Air Force One on Thursday.

Getting South Korea and Japan to work together is considered one of the diplomatic achievements of Biden's soon-to-end four-year term as president. The two countries have a long history of mutual acrimony stemming from Japan's harsh 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea.

Biden sees close ties among the three as a hedge against aggressive steps by China in the region, a view Beijing rejects. Yoon met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, with Ishiba and Biden also set to hold their own one-on-ones with Xi during the APEC summit.

"I truly believe the cooperation of our countries will be the foundation to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific for many years to come," Biden said as the three-way meeting started.

The three countries also committed to further advancing collaboration with the Philippines across a range of critical sectors including ports, energy and transportation, according to the joint statement published after the meeting.

Trump's commitment to the trilateral work has been an open question in the region given the president-elect's "America First" approach, suspicion of U.S. financial and military support for traditional allies, and his own diplomatic foray into North Korea during his first four-year term.

"Transitions have historically been time periods when the DPRK has taken provocative actions, both before and after the transition from one president to a new president," said Sullivan. "I do not think we can count on a period of quiet with the DPRK."