Biden going to SKorea, Japan in May to discuss China, NKorea

By ZEKE MILLERApril 27, 2022 GMT

President Joe Biden speaks during the 2022 National and State Teachers of the Year event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. The Department of Homeland Security is stepping up an effort to counter disinformation coming from Russia as well as misleading information that human smugglers circulate to target migrants hoping to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel next month to South Korea and Japan, his first trip to Asia since taking office last year, to consult with allies on growing threats from China and North Korea.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the May 20-24 trip Wednesday. Both allies host significant U.S. military contingents, and the trip comes as North Korea has escalated its nuclear missile testing and China has grown more assertive in the region.

Biden will meet separately with newly elected President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan, Psaki said.

In Tokyo, Biden will also meet with the so-called “Quad” — which also includes Australia, Japan and India — as they aim to forge stronger partnerships to contain China in the Indo-Pacific.

It will be Biden’s fourth foreign trip as president. He traveled to Poland and Belgium in March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.