SEOUL (National Timees)- US President Joe Biden, in Seoul before heading to Japan as part of his first Asia trip as president, had a simple message for North Korea’s Kim Jong Un: “Hello… period,” he told reporters on the last day of his visit to South Korea on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Biden said he was “not concerned” about new North Korean nuclear tests, which would be the first in nearly five years.<\/p>\n
But his wry response when asked what message he had for Kim underscored the administration’s low-key approach to the unresolved tensions with North Korea. It is a stark contrast with former President Donald Trump’s showy threats, summits, and “love letters” with Kim.<\/p>\n
Neither president’s approach has led to a major breakthrough, however, and North Korea has resumed testing its largest intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), while intelligence reports suggest it is preparing for a new nuclear test.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are prepared for anything North Korea does,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, Biden and his new South Korean counterpart, President Yoon Suk-yeol, agreed to consider bigger military exercises and potentially deploying more nuclear-capable American weapons to the region in response to the North’s weapons tests. <\/p>\n
North Korea has not responded to US overtures, including offers of COVID-19 vaccines, Biden said on Saturday, noting that he was willing to sit down with Kim if he thought it would lead to a serious breakthrough. <\/p>\n
COVID-19 restrictions may be playing a role in North Korea’s lack of response, a senior US administration official said.<\/p>\n
North Korea has said the US overtures are insincere because Washington maintains “hostile policies” such as military drills and sanctions.<\/p>\n
When asked whether Biden was willing to take concrete steps to break the stalemate, the official said that the administration was looking for serious engagement, not grand gestures.<\/p>\n
“This is a decision that only the DPRK can make,” the official said, using the initials of North Korea’s official name.<\/p>\n
Regional Team-building
\nBiden’s focus during the trip has been on rallying “like-minded” democracies to cooperate more, part of broader efforts to counter China’s rising influence and exert pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
On the second leg of the trip, Biden will meet with leaders of Japan, India and Australia, a grouping known as the Quad, another cornerstone of his strategy to push back against China’s expanding influence.<\/p>\n
Yoon has shown interest in working more closely with the Quad, but the US official said there was no consideration of adding Seoul to the group.<\/p>\n
“It’s natural… to think about ways in which you can work with other like-minded democracies, but I think it’s also important to recognise that the goal right now is to develop and build out what has already been laid out,” the official said.<\/p>\n
Tokyo will also see the launch on Monday of Biden’s long-awaited Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a programme intended to bind regional countries more closely via common standards in areas including supply-chain resilience, clean energy, infrastructure and digital trade.<\/p>\n
The US official declined to identify which countries might sign on to the IPEF, but said they were satisfied with “very strong interest” throughout the region in participating.<\/p>\n
Before departing to Japan, Biden met with the chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, which announced on Sunday it would invest $5 billion in the United States through 2025 to strengthen its collaboration with US firms in diverse technologies, such as robotics, urban air mobility, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n
Biden was also due to tour a US military base with Yoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOUL (National Timees)- US President Joe Biden, in Seoul before heading to Japan as part of his first Asia trip as president, had a simple message for North Korea’s Kim Jong Un: “Hello… period,” he told reporters on the last day of his visit to South Korea on Sunday. Biden said he was “not concerned” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n