[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 23 (Thursday, February 8, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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    SENATE RESOLUTION 545--RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF TRILATERAL 
      COOPERATION AMONG THE UNITED STATES, JAPAN, AND SOUTH KOREA

  Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Merkley, 
Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Young, and Ms. Duckworth) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 545

       Whereas, in 2023, South Korea and Japan restarted bilateral 
     summitry for the first time since 2019 with President Yoon 
     Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio meeting seven 
     times;
       Whereas the two sides have made efforts to address 
     longstanding historical grievances, including the issue of 
     South Koreans forced to work for Japanese companies during 
     World War II;
       Whereas the Governments of Japan and South Korea restored 
     normal economic ties, which had been strained since 2019, by 
     reinstating each other on their respective ``white lists'' of 
     preferential trade partners, with Japan lifting export 
     controls on South Korea related to three materials needed to 
     produce semiconductors and South Korea dropping its case 
     before the World Trade Organization related to those export 
     controls;
       Whereas the United States, Japan, and South Korea have 
     restarted trilateral summitry, holding five trilateral 
     meetings among President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, and 
     President Yoon since June 2022;
       Whereas, on August 18, 2023, the United States, Japan, and 
     South Korea held the first standalone trilateral leaders 
     summit at Camp David;
       Whereas the three allies issued a trilateral commitment to 
     consult with one another trilaterally ``in an expeditious 
     manner to coordinate our responses to regional challenges, 
     provocations, and threats affecting our collective interests 
     and security'';
       Whereas the three allies improved deterrence and defense 
     capabilities against the growing security threat posed by 
     North Korea by resuming military exercises in 2022;
       Whereas the United States, Japan, and South Korea expanded 
     and developed a multi-year schedule for trilateral military 
     exercises and conducted the first United States-Japan-South 
     Korea aerial exercise in October 2023;
       Whereas the three allies have activated a 2022 agreement to 
     exchange real-time missile warning data focused on North 
     Korean missile launches;
       Whereas, in December 2022, South Korea and Japan published 
     national security documents that closely mirrored those of 
     the United States, setting the stage for greater policy 
     alignment and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific;
       Whereas the three allies announced plans for expanded and 
     more regular summits, including agreeing to hold annual 
     trilateral summit meetings, agreeing to hold annual 
     trilateral meetings among cabinet-level officials, 
     specifically the three countries' foreign ministers, defense 
     ministers, commerce and industry ministers, and national 
     security advisors, and agreeing to hold the first trilateral 
     meeting among finance ministers;
       Whereas the three allies announced a trilateral initiative 
     to synchronize their efforts to build the maritime 
     capabilities of Southeast Asian and Pacific Island countries;
       Whereas South Korea and Japan have resumed cabinet- and 
     subcabinet-level bilateral consultations, including holding a 
     Security Dialogue and a Strategic Dialogue;
       Whereas the Governments of Japan and South Korea announced 
     a new bilateral science and technology cooperative 
     arrangement, including a hydrogen and ammonia global value 
     chain initiative, which includes raising funds for joint 
     projects, and a quantum technology research and development 
     initiative between the two countries' government-affiliated 
     research institutes;
       Whereas South Korea and Japan cooperated to evacuate 
     Japanese and South Korean nationals from Sudan after the 
     eruption of civil conflict in April 2023 and from Israel 
     after Hamas' attack in October 2023;
       Whereas South Korea arranged for the experts dispatched to 
     the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station to monitor 
     TEPCO's release of treated water into the Pacific Ocean;
       Whereas, in December 2023, the United States, Japan, and 
     South Korea held the inaugural meeting of the trilateral 
     Working Group on DPRK Cyber Activities;
       Whereas the three allies have held trilateral dialogues on 
     space security (November 2023) and Indo-Pacific policies 
     (January 2024); and
       Whereas the United States, Japan, and South Korea announced 
     trilateral economic and technology cooperation initiatives, 
     including a supply chain early warning system pilot program, 
     a partnership program among the three countries' national 
     laboratories: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the extraordinary leadership of President of 
     South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister of Japan Kishida 
     Fumio in taking initiative to repair relations between their 
     two countries;
       (2) acknowledges that strengthening relations between Japan 
     and South Korea has enabled greater ambition in trilateral 
     cooperation involving the United States;
       (3) encourages ever greater cooperation between South Korea 
     and Japan and trilateral cooperation across diplomatic, 
     economic, security, and informational domains;
       (4) welcomes ever greater levels of trilateral strategic 
     coordination among the United States, Japan, and South Korea 
     as a stabilizing influence on the Western Pacific region and 
     global order more broadly;
       (5) celebrates the shared democratic, liberal values that 
     are the bedrock of the enduring ties among the United States, 
     Japan, and South Korea; and
       (6) recognizes the critical importance to the interests of 
     the United States and the peace and security of the Western 
     Pacific of United States treaty alliances with South Korea 
     and Japan.

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