The leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea are set to meet at the U.S. presidential retreat Camp David on Friday in what will be the countries’ first trilateral summit.
U.S. President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the storied residence, which has been the backdrop of numerous peace deals and diplomatic agreements over the years.
Camp David, located in Maryland about 112 kilometers northwest of the White House, played host to Jimmy Carter’s peace mediation between Egypt and Israel in 1978, which resulted in the Camp David Accords.
This time, the three leaders will look to deepen their countries’ defense, technology and economic cooperation as they grapple with rising threats from China and North Korea, senior administration officials have said. It will be Biden’s first time hosting foreign leaders at the compound.
“Certainly in the case of this summit, we envision Camp David kind of marking a new beginning for all of us as trilateral partners among the U.S., ROK [South Korea] and Japan,” a senior administration official told Reuters. “So, we think the symbolism is heavy and really can’t be overstated.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt established the residence in 1942. It was originally named Shangri-La after the fictional mountain kingdom in James Hilton’s 1933 novel, Lost Horizon. Roosevelt hosted British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the site twice. In 1943, they discussed the Normandy invasion and went fishing. Churchill was the first foreign leader to visit the 180-acre retreat.
Meanwhile, Dwight D. Eisenhower hosted Nikita Khruschev, premier of the Soviet Union, in 1959. It was the first time a Soviet leader had visited the United States. They watched American Western movies.
In addition to a movie theater, Camp David has a fitness center, bowling alley, swimming pool, and basketball and tennis courts. Guests stay in their own cabins.
Despite the lore surrounding the idyllic locale, Camp David discussions aren’t always a success. Walks on Catoctin Mountain, out of the media glare, aren’t necessarily a panacea for global conflict.
Bill Clinton invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Camp David for peace talks in 2000, but the summit ended without an agreement after two weeks.
But Camp David isn’t just a place for world leaders to discuss global issues in a more casual setting.
It’s primarily a presidential retreat for the country’s leader to unwind with family. George Bush liked to go mountain biking there. Carter liked to go fishing, Eisenhower liked to grill for friends and family, and Ronald Reagan liked to go horseback riding.
Not all presidents liked Camp David as much as others. Whereas Reagan visited the compound 189 times over his eight years in office, Donald Trump visited it just 15 times during his four-year term.
Some information for this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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