(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Ryu Ji-bok Kim Kyung-hee = The White House said on the 18th (local time) that there is a possibility of a North Korean provocation during President Joe Biden’s visit to South Korea and Japan from the 20th to the 24th, and that it is ready to respond to any provocation.
He also said that he was ready to adjust the military readiness posture in the short and long term, and expressed his strong will to respond accordingly depending on the level of North Korean provocations.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a briefing that “we have clear information that North Korea may conduct additional missile or nuclear tests, including long-range missiles, on or after President Biden’s visits to South Korea and Japan.”
“We are prepared for any emergency, including the possibility of such a provocation during President Biden’s visit to South Korea or Japan,” Sullivan said.
“We are working closely with both the South Korean and Japanese alliances,” he said.
“We are clearly prepared for the short- and long-term military readiness adjustments necessary to ensure that the alliance provides sufficient defense and deterrence,” he added.
This is interpreted as an expression of strong will to reaffirm the guarantee of extended deterrence to both Korea and Japan in the face of North Korea’s escalating nuclear and missile threat, while at the same time adjusting overall military readiness posture, including strategic asset deployment and joint exercises, and a warning sound toward North Korea. .
President Biden, who will be on his first Asian tour in 16 months since taking office in January last year, will visit South Korea on the 20th and 22nd, and then perform his Japanese itinerary from the 22nd to the 24th.
Sullivan said President Biden’s trip follows the U.S. mobilization of the West following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, adding that at a very important moment, it is his first visit to another essential region: the Indo-Pacific.
He said that it would be an opportunity to express appreciation for the cooperation between the two countries in the response to the Ukraine war, while reaffirming and strengthening the security alliance with Japan and deepening economic partnerships.
Immediately after arriving in Korea on the 20th, President Biden toured the Samsung semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek and held his first summit meeting with President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 21st.
At the briefing on the same day, Sullivan also noted that he campaigned for President Yoon with a promise to strengthen the ROK-U.S. alliance and improve relations between Korea and Japan.
President Biden also introduced a schedule of meetings with Korean business leaders who have invested heavily in the United States.
He said that while watching the two armies work shoulder to shoulder in collective defense, he will also discuss the challenges posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
He also emphasized that it will highlight the characteristics of the ROK-U.S. alliance that have risen to the global level, from climate change, energy and technology to economic growth and investment.
Sullivan said Biden had no scheduled meeting with former President Moon Jae-in at this time. He replied to the effect that he did not know well about the ‘Moon Jae-in special envoy to North Korea’ raised by some.
White House press secretary Carine Jean-Pierre said President Biden had visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during his time as Vice President and said he would not visit the DMZ during his visit to South Korea.
During his visit to Japan, President Sullivan officially confirmed that President Biden was launching the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), known as an economic consultative body aimed at curbing the expansion of China’s economic influence.
The IPEF, launched by the US, is sure to include Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It is known that President Yoon will attend the inauguration ceremony via video.
After holding the US-Japan summit in Japan on the 23rd, President Biden plans to hold a Quad summit with Japan, Australia, India and China on the 24th. This is the second face-to-face meeting after last September.
“This trip will fully demonstrate President Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy,” Sullivan said. said
When asked if the trip would be a warning to China, he replied that the message of the trip was a positive vision of what the world would be like if democratic countries all over the world joined forces.
