Page 24 - Trilateral Korea Japan U.S. Cooperation

Pyongyang and Moscow. His paper also offers suggestions for
further development of South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation
for peace and stability in Northeast Asia aimed at deterring
Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats and dissuading China
from backing Kim Jong-Un’s hostile behavior.

Victor Cha, Senior Vice President and Korea Chair at the
Center for Strategic and International Studies reports on The
Meaning of Camp David and the New Unholy Alliance (Chapter
Eleven). He notes that there are two recent and important
developments with regard to security on the Korean Peninsula.
From a U.S. perspective, one is positive and one is negative.
The positive development relates to the vast improvement in
trilateral relations among the United States, Japan, and South
Korea. During the Cold War, the U.S. saw the individual
bilateral alliances with South Korea and Japan as a strategic,
trilateral whole when it came to defense and deterrence. In the
post-Cold War era, Washington sees the trilateral relationship
in a broader military and strategic context, as an institution
that could promote regional stability, and also promote
democracy, economic prosperity, and support of the liberal
international order in a region of the world that does not yet
readily accept such values. Today, the trilateral relationship has
expanded in terms of capabilities and responsibilities beyond
anyone’s imagination. The three allies are instrumental in
shaping a strategic environment in which to manage China’s
rise. He believes that the institutionalization of trilateral
relations and the broadened scope of cooperation since Camp
David are unprecedented.

In Chapter Twelve, Professor Nobumasa Akiyama of

Chapter One : Dealing with North Korea-China Challenges 23