The president of the United States, Joe Biden, and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, this Friday outside Seoul. Photo: EFE
Joe Biden arrived in South Korea on Friday, on his first visit as US president to Asia, where he hopes to strengthen security ties with his allies in the region, in the context of concern about a possible North Korea nuclear test.
The 79-year-old Democrat, whose confrontation with China is the main geopolitical concern for years to come, will continue his tour of Japan on Sunday.
After landing at Osan air base, Biden went to a semiconductor factory of South Korean technology giant Samsung in Pyeongtaek on Friday, where he was warmly received by that country’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, a pro-American politico.
In his first statements on South Korea, the US president said the alliance between the two countries was “an axis of peace, stability and prosperity” in the region and the world.
Joe Biden visited the plant of electronics giant Samsung, in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: EFE
possible nuclear test
USA it is estimated that there is a “real possibility” that North Korea is proceeding “with a new missile shot” or “with a nuclear test” while on the trip, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One.
At the Samsung plant, a company that employs approximately 20,000 people in the United States and is currently building a semiconductor factory in Texas, Biden stressed that the chips are an “amazing innovation” that is vital to the economy of world.
These little gadgets have “made our modern lives possible” and are “the key that drives us into a new era of human technological development,” he added.
South Korea is a large producer of semiconductors and produces approximately 70% of the chips used in the world, Yoon said in his speech.
In addition to his talks with the leaders of South Korea and Japan, Biden will participate in Tokyo at a regional summit of the Quad group, which includes Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
A TV in Seoul shows the launch of the North Korean missile on May 4. Photo: AFP
Message to China
The United States wants to “affirm the image of what the world could be if world democracies and open societies came together to dictate the rules of the game” around “American leadership,” Sullivan said. .
“We believe this message will be heard in Beijing. But it is not a negative message and it is not directed against any country,” he said.
However, China and Taiwan are on everyone’s mind.
Earlier this month, CIA Director William Burns said Beijing was monitoring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “carefully” and would draw lessons from the “costs and consequences” of a strong CIA takeover. Taiwan island.
The White House said that early in his tour, Biden will visit U.S. and South Korean troops, but will not make the president’s traditional trip to the fortified border, known as the DMZ, between the two Koreas.
Several times the Biden administration has said, to no avail, that this is it willing to talk cin North Korea, despite the fact that the country has conducted several missile tests since the beginning of the year.
Seoul and Washington expect Pyongyang to resume its nuclear tests soon, having conducted six between 2006 and 2017.
According to U.S. intelligence services, there is a “real possibility” that North Korea is looking for organize a “provocation” following Biden’s arrival in Seoul on Friday.
This could mean “new missile tests, long-range missile tests or a nuclear test, or two” before, during or after Biden’s tour of the region, Sullivan said.
“We know what we will do to respond. We have interacted not only with our allies, but also with China,” he added.
Although he denied that such an event would be seen as a diplomatic setback for the president. “This will highlight one of the key messages we are sending on this trip, that the United States is there for its allies and partners,” the official said.
Source: AFP
CB
Source: Clarin
