US President Joe Biden and South Korea’s newly sworn-in President Yoon Suk-yeol said Saturday they will consider stepping up joint military exercises in response to the “threat” from North Korea, while also offering to help the isolated dictatorship face down a COVID-19 outbreak.
After meeting in Seoul on Biden’s first trip to Asia as president, the two leaders said in a statement that “considering the evolving threat posed by” North Korea, they “agree to initiate discussions to expand the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training on and around the Korean peninsula.”
Reaching out to Pyongyang, the statement said the two leaders also “express concern over the recent Covid-19 outbreak” there and “are willing to work with the international community to provide assistance” to North Korea to help fight the virus.
Yoon said the offer of Covid aid was being made according to “humanitarian principles, separate from political and military issues” with Pyongyang.
The two presidents are committed to North Korea’s “complete denuclearization,” he said, adding that “nothing is more important than a strong deterrence against the North.”
Biden began his day by paying respects at Seoul National Cemetery, where soldiers killed defending South Korea, including many who fought alongside US troops in the Korean War, are buried.
He then held closed-door talks with Yoon ahead of a joint press conference and state dinner.
On Sunday, Biden travels to another key US ally, Japan.
A US official said that in addition to tensions over North Korea and the US-led campaign to punish Russia for invading Ukraine, Biden’s main focus Saturday was establishing “a strong personal relationship” with Yoon, who is less than two weeks into his presidency.
Like Japan, South Korea is seen as a key player in US strategy to contain China and maintain what Washington calls the “free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Biden’s Asia trip “is about demonstrating unity and resolve and strengthening the coordination between our closest allies,” the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
However, the visit is overshadowed by what the US official called “saber-rattling” across the heavily fortified border in North Korea, which the White House believes might test either a nuclear-capable missile or explosive to take advantage of the high-profile moment.
On arrival Friday, Biden accompanied Yoon on a tour of a massive Samsung semiconductor factory. Relations between the two leaders “got off to a very good start,” the US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Biden called the US-South Korean alliance “a linchpin of peace, stability and prosperity” and highlighted the Samsung plant’s role in maintaining the fragile global supply chain for semiconductors.
The chips are a vital component in almost every piece of sophisticated modern technology, and South Korea and the United States need to work to “keep our supply chains resilient, reliable and secure,” Biden said.
In Japan, Biden will meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the emperor.
On Monday, he will unveil a major new US initiative for regional trade, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity. A day later, he will join a regional summit of the Quad – a grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
