President Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan on Sunday said the three countries are “more aligned than ever” as they vowed a unified response to North Korea’s nuclear missile program and recent aggressive actions.

Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol separately and then together at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia.

“We face real challenges, but our countries are more aligned than ever, more prepared to take on those challenges than ever,” Biden told reporters in Phnom Penh. “So I look forward to deepening the bonds of cooperation between our three countries.”

Addressing the recent spate of ballistic missile launches by Kim Jong-un’s regime, Yoon said North Korea is showing its “true inclinations.”

“At a time when South Koreans are grieving in deep sorrow, North Korea pushed ahead with such provocations which lays bare the Kim Jong Un regime’s true inclinations,” he said, referring to the stampede at a Halloween festival in Seoul that killed more than 150 people.

“This trilateral summit is timely given we are expecting further provocation,” Kishida said.
The three leaders released a statement following their meeting, saying the partnership is “guided by shared values, driven by innovation, and committed to shared prosperity and security.”

It also condemned North Korea’s military actions that “pose a grave threat” and reaffirmed the three countries’ “commitment” for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, while putting Kim on notice that any nuclear tests would have serious consequences.

A “nuclear test would be met with a strong and resolute response from the international community. Japan, the ROK, and the United States will coordinate sanctions and work together to close gaps in the international sanctions regime to ensure all relevant sanctions are fully enforced,” the three leaders said in the statement.

At the same time, they said the “path” to a “peaceful and diplomatic resolution” remains open.

Biden’s meeting with Kishida and Yoon came on the eve of his highly anticipated face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday ahead of the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, as relations have intensified between the two global superpowers over Beijing’s provocative actions against Taiwan.

Biden told reporters in Cambodia on Sunday that he and Xi have a relationship that goes back years.

“I know Xi Jinping. I’ve spent more time with him than any other world leader. I know him well. He knows me. We have very little misunderstanding. We just got to figure out where the red lines are and what are the most important things to each of us going into the next two years,” Biden said.

The president also said their discussions have been “straightforward” and that has prevented any “miscalculation” about where each of them stand.

During their meeting, Biden will seek to keep the peace in the Taiwan Strait, but he will also press Xi for a more forceful response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, reaffirm the US’ alliance with self-governing Taiwan, as well as address Beijing’s economic practices and human rights abuses.

It’s unclear whether Biden will bring up whether the coronavirus leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, or the amount of fentanyl that is being exported by China and that has caused thousands of deaths in the US.