The latest trilateral summit among the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan has helped establish a "basic framework" for coping with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, Seoul's presidential office said Sunday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday, where they adopted a series of documents that outlined their commitments to enhance security and economic cooperation and called for the three countries' leaders to meet annually.

"(With the trilateral summit), a basic framework to tackle North Korea's nuclear and missile threats has been set up," presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said in a briefing.

The summit was held amid expectations that North Korea could fire intercontinental ballistic missiles or make its second attempt to launch a military spy satellite in the run-up to the celebration of its founding anniversary on Sept. 9.

Lee highly appraised the meaning of three key documents adopted by the leaders at the first standalone trilateral summit among the three nations.

The agreement to consult one another in the event of common threats, dubbed the "Commitment to Consult" was a first among the three nations and elevated their partnership to a new level amid the security and economic challenges posed by North Korea and China.

In a joint statement titled "The Spirit of Camp David," they also agreed to hold annual trilateral summits, conduct three-way defense exercises on an annual basis and operationalize the real-time sharing of missile warning data on North Korea by the end of the year.

"It is very meaningful that it was the first time that the three countries publicly stated the status of their mutual relations to the international community by adopting the documents," Lee said.

Touching on the economy, Lee said the leaders agreed to expand technological and personnel exchanges in advanced areas, such as artificial intelligence and space, which will pave the way for securing engines of new growth and creating jobs.

"The combined economic size of the three nations accounts for about 31 percent of global gross domestic product. This means an overwhelming economic power that cannot be compared to any other economic blocs or forces," he added.

Source: Yonhap News Agency