Japan, Korea, New Zealand leaders attend summit as NATO’s vision expands

SEOUL, South Korea — Key Asian allies have been invited to NATO’s 75th anniversary summit this week in Washington, where China’s dual-use exports to Russia and the Kremlin’s warming ties with North Korea during its war in Ukraine are expected to be on the agenda.

The issues may be distant from the North Atlantic, the traditional focus of the 32-member alliance, but inviting the leaders of Japan, South Korea and New Zealand to attend is the latest sign that the alliance sees security challenges playing out on a field far larger than Central and Eastern Europe.

One prominent no-show is Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, but the Asian presence will be as substantial as it is striking.

“The Indo-Pacific is important for the alliance, given that developments in that region can directly affect Euro-Atlantic security,” NATO says on its homepage. “Moreover, NATO and its partners in the region share common values and a goal of working together to uphold the rules-based international order.”

The so-called IndoPacific4 has attended NATO summits for the past two years. A NATO-IP4 session is set for Thursday.

Issues to be discussed include resilience, cybersecurity, disinformation and technology, according to a U.S. official briefing last week.

Resilience could include supplying industrial products or arms, particularly given that the Asian partners all use NATO-standard weapons and systems. Atlantic-Pacific cooperation is already underway in the cybersecurity field.

Politically, the continental outreach represents a growing unity of purpose among East Asian, European and North American democracies against authoritarian state challenges to the global status quo, particularly Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Geographically, it represents a unity of maritime powers against the Eurasian continental powers of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Geopolitics will be at the fore, but economic considerations will be a background presence.

Russia is a major player in only two global sectors: arms and energy. China, the world’s No. 2 economy behind the U.S., is a central player in multiple global supply chains and constrains all parties’ actions.

National agendas

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will represent Japan, which on Monday followed up security deals with Australia and Britain by signing a third with the Philippines.

Tokyo hosts the largest number of U.S. troops deployed overseas. Mr. Kishida fears Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could encourage similar aggression and challenges to recognized international borders in East Asia as well.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Mr. Kishida will “reaffirm with NATO allies and other partners the recognition that the securities of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are inseparable.”

In a Tuesday interview with Reuters, Mr. Kishida raised the issue of Chinese dual-use exports that have offered the Russian defense industry “a lifeline” in the face of punishing Western economic sanctions.

“It is necessary to grapple with such situations in a multifaceted and strategic manner, taking a panoramic view that considers the full range of international actors fueling Russia’s attempt to change the status quo by force,” he said.

Japan already has considerable ties to NATO. The Individually Tailored Partnership Programs of 2023 are 16 areas of agreements for cooperation, including arms control, nonproliferation, cybersecurity and space. Japanese media reports say that countering disinformation — “cognitive warfare” — is also on Mr. Kishida’s agenda.

Japan is also expanding defense links with European nations.

It signed a troop and equipment transfer agreement with Britain in 2023 and an acquisition and cross-servicing agreement in Germany in January. Mitsubishi is building Japan’s next-generation stealth fighter in partnership with Britain and Italy.

Although South Korea cannot boast the same number of security linkages, President Yoon Suk Yeol, who visited the U.S.-led RIMPAC military exercises en route to the summit, will likely get a warm welcome in the NATO conference halls.

The Biden administration has welcomed Mr. Yoon’s unprecedented outreach to Japan despite considerable political hurdles at home. Alarmed by the North Korea-Russia summit last month, which resulted in the announcement of a bilateral security partnership, Mr. Yoon said he would raise the prospect of cross-continental proliferation linkages with NATO.

In a pre-departure interview with Reuters, Mr. Yoon said, “Military cooperation between Russia and North Korea poses a distinct threat and grave challenge to the peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Europe.”

North Korea has supplied Russia with artillery ammunition and rockets, and rumors say it may deploy military engineers and laborers to occupied Ukraine.

Seoul has not directly fed the war but has supplied artillery ammunition to the Pentagon, which transferred it to Kyiv. Mr. Yoon said his future stance toward supplying Ukraine depends on how North Korea-Russia relations evolve.

NATO and South Korea are already cooperating on cybersecurity. South Korean troops joined NATO’s drill in Estonia last year, and Seoul’s intelligence agency will host NATO operatives for an exercise in September.

Mr. Yoon’s office said he will hold as many as 10 bilateral meetings with fellow leaders during his Washington visit.

The Washington mission of New Zealand Premier Christopher Luxon, who took office in November, is similar to Mr. Yoon’s. He told local media that it includes “speed dating” with NATO leaders and U.S. politicians from both major political parties.

Mr. Luxon will also discuss New Zealand’s financial support for Ukraine and its training of Ukrainian troops.

An absentee and an opponent

The highest-profile absentee in Washington will be Australia’s Mr. Albanese. Canberra will instead be represented by Defense Minister Robert Marles. The prime minister, who has been criticized for racking up too many air miles during his first months in office, has cited local political issues, such as tax cuts and a cost of living crisis, as his priority.

The decision not to attend has sparked controversy.

“Albanese should not be missing in action from the NATO summit,” The Sydney Morning Herald editorialized. His “rejection” of the invitation was “sacrificing geopolitics to domestic politics,” the influential daily wrote. “This is a gathering of world leaders. … Our leader, Albanese, should front up.”

Australia, a strong U.S. ally since World War II, the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, and the global war on terrorism, is set to obtain nuclear submarines using American and British technology under Mr. Biden’s AUKUS agreement. The opposition has attacked Mr. Albanese for “dereliction of duty,” but that sentiment is not universal.

Some Australians say Canberra must be careful not to strain ties with Beijing, a major buyer of Australian exports.

“The prime minister’s actions confirm he is part of the Asia-Pacific. That is where our security and our economic future is and where we should invest our diplomatic and economic efforts,” former Foreign Minister Bob Carr told a forum in China last week.  “Australia has no interest in seeing NATO reinvented as some tool to contain China; it is not in Australia’s interest.”

China, which fears the U.S. may be trying to forge a NATO-like alliance in the Indo-Pacific to contain its rise, has issued sharp words about the Washington gathering and the presence of many East Asian leaders.

“NATO should adhere to its positioning as a regional defensive organization, stop creating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, [and] stop promoting Cold War mentality and bloc confrontations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in a briefing Monday.