The president of United States, Joe Bidenarrived this Sunday at Japanthe second and last stage of his first tour of Asia as a ruler, which has as a backdrop the North Korean threat, China’s geopolitical ambitions and the war in Ukraine.
After visiting South Korea, another great ally of the United States in Asia, Biden arrived at Yokota Air Base, west of Tokyo, shortly after 5:00 p.m. (local time).
The US president will meet with the prime minister on Monday. fumio kishida and the emperor Narutoand on Tuesday he will participate in a summit that brings together the rulers of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
He will also introduce a regional trade initiative, the Economic Framework for Prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
Biden took the opportunity to congratulate Anthony Albanesewinner of the legislative elections held the day before in Australia, and reaffirmed “the unwavering commitment of the United States to the American-Australian alliance.”
Shortly before leaving for Japan, Biden He said this Sunday in Seoul that he is “prepared” for a possible nuclear test by North Korea, but reaffirmed his openness to dialogue with a singular message to Kim Jong Un.
“We are prepared for anything North Korea can do,” Biden said, saying he is not “concerned” about the risks of a new weapons test during his stay in the region – something US officials have warned about.
Finally, a nuclear test did not take place during the visit of Biden a South KoreaBut it could still happen in the next few days, according to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“If North Korea acts, we will be prepared to respond. If North Korea does not act, it has an opportunity, as we have said before, to come back to the table,” Sullivan told reporters on Sunday.
Asked by a reporter if Biden had a message for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the president responded with a laconic message: “Hello. Full stop.”
It was a way of making it clear that Washington remains open to dialogue with North Korea, even in the absence of reciprocity. Talks with Pyongyang have been stalled since the failed 2019 summit between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump.
Counter a “nuclear attack”
In Seoul, where he arrived on Friday, Biden met with the newly elected president Yoon Suk-yeol, a pro-American conservative who came to power in early May. The two leaders spoke of stepping up “joint military exercises in and around the Korean peninsula,” noting the “growing threat” from North Korea.
Yoon pointed out that he argued with Biden whether they should “develop various kinds of joint drills in preparation for a nuclear attack.”
He also pointed to the need for “warplanes and missiles, a change from the past when we only thought of nuclear protection as a deterrent.”
Any buildup of forces or expansion of joint US-South Korea military exercises could anger Pyongyang, which sees the moves as rehearsals for an invasion.
South Korean intelligence has warned that North Korea has completed preparations for a nuclear test, which would be the seventh in its history and the first in five years. It is not ruled out that this test will take place before the end of the US president’s visit to Asia.
democracy and autocracy
To increase the uncertainty, North Koreawhose population is not vaccinated against Covid-19, is currently facing an outbreak, with almost 2.6 million cases and 67 deaths, according to the latest official figures.
Biden and Yoon offered to help North Korea to deal with its Covid-19 outbreak.
In a sign of the ambitions of USA in the region, Biden spoke in a joint press conference with Yoon of a “competition between democracy and autocracy” in the world, and that the Asia Pacific region is key in the dispute.
“We talked extensively about the need to expand this beyond the United States, Japan and Korea to include the entire Pacific and the South Pacific and the Indo-Pacific. I think this is an opportunity,” he said.
China it is the main rival of the United States in that geopolitical struggle.
Before leaving South Korea, Biden met with the president of hyundai to celebrate the auto giant’s decision to invest $5.5 billion in an electric car plant in the southern state of Georgia.
He also visited US and South Korean soldiers based in the Asian country with Yoon, a sign of the “truly integrated nature” of the two countries’ economic and military alliance, according to a senior White House official.
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