Joe Biden and Yoon Suk-yeol met on the occasion of the first trip of the American president to Asia since his arrival at the White House.
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The United States and South Korea want to strengthen their military cooperation in order to counter the “threatens” growing in North Korea. This is what the presidents of the two countries, Joe Biden and Yoon Suk-yeol, said on Saturday May 21 in Seoul. “In view of the evolving threat posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the two leaders agree to initiate discussions with a view to expanding the scope and scale of joint military exercises and training in and around of the Korean Peninsula”according to a joint statement issued after their meeting, which marks Joe Biden’s first trip to Asia as president.
The statement comes as South Korean intelligence services have warned that North Korea has completed preparations to carry out a nuclear test, which would be the seventh in its history and the first in five years.
The two presidents nevertheless reached out to North Korea to help it deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The country, whose population is not vaccinated, is currently facing an epidemic outbreak, with nearly 2.5 million cases and 66 deaths, according to the latest official figures released on Saturday. Joe Biden and Yoon Suk-yeol expressed “their concern” and “stand ready to work with the international community to provide assistance”they said in their press release.