US, Japan and S Korea agree to expand security ties at summit

Biden says the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats.

President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the "Camp David Principles," at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

"Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share," Biden said. "The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region," the leaders said in a joint statement.