Biden welcomes foreign leaders and press to Camp David for first time in nearly a decade

President Joe Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at Camp David for a trilateral summit in the face of the growing threat China and North Korea pose to Indo-Pacific nations.

Biden has made courting Indo-Pacific allies a core focus of his presidency. However, long-standing tension between Japan and South Korea, stemming from the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula during the first half of the 20th century, has, in some eyes, stalled U.S. diplomatic efforts to counter China and North Korea.

"China’s entire strategy is based on the premise that America’s No. 1 and No. 2 ally in the region can’t get together and get on the same page," U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel noted Wednesday ahead of the summit.