US President Joe Biden arrived in Japan on Sunday, the second leg of his first trip to Asia at his current location, amid the threat of North Korea, China’s geopolitical ambitions and war in Ukraine.

After visiting South Korea, another key US ally in Asia, Biden arrived at Yokota Air Base, located on the outskirts of Tokyo to the west, shortly after 5 pm local time (5:00 GMT).

Monday (23), he will meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Emperor Naruhito. The next day, he will attend the Quadruple summit with executives from Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

It will also introduce the Economic Framework for Prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, a regional trade initiative.

Biden took the opportunity to congratulate Anthony Albanese, winner of Saturday’s 21st parliamentary election in Australia, reinforcing “the United States’ unwavering commitment to the American-Australian alliance.”

Also in Seoul, shortly before leaving for Japan, Biden said on Sunday that he was “prepared” for a possible nuclear test by North Korea. However, the leader reiterated that he is open to dialogue, giving a singular message to Kim Jong-un.

Biden said he was “not concerned” about the risks of a new weapons test, which he had been warned about by US officials during his stay in the region, saying “we are ready for anything North Korea can do”.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned that the nuclear test did not take place during Biden’s visit to South Korea, but could happen in the coming days.

“If North Korea takes action, we are prepared to respond. If North Korea does not act, there is an opportunity to get back to the table, as we said before,” Sullivan told reporters on Sunday.

When asked by a reporter if he had anything to say to Kim Jong-un, the president replied with a succinct message: “Hello. Dot.”

However, the American president stated that Washington is open to dialogue with North Korea, even if there is no reciprocity. Talks with Pyongyang have stalled since the failed 2019 summit between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump.

Neutralize the ‘nuclear attack’

In Seoul on Friday, Biden met with newly elected pro-American conservative president Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in early May.

The two leaders spoke of accelerating “joint military exercises on and around the Korean peninsula” after highlighting the “growing threat” from North Korea.

Yoon said he had discussed with Biden whether they should “develop various joint exercises in preparation for a nuclear attack.” He also stressed the need to have “warplanes and missiles, a change from the past when we thought of nuclear protection only as a deterrent.”

Any increase in forces or an expansion of joint US-South Korean military exercises could anger Pyongyang, which sees these maneuvers as a rehearsal for invasion.

South Korean intelligence has warned that North Korea has completed its nuclear test preparations. If it does, it will be the seventh in its history and the first in five years.

Democracy and Autocracy

Adding to the uncertainty, North Korea, whose population has not been vaccinated against Covid-19, is currently facing a pandemic outbreak with around 2.6 million cases and 67 deaths, according to the latest official figures.

Biden and Yoon offered to help North Korea to face this health crisis.

As an indication of the US ambitions in the region, Biden spoke at the joint press conference with Yoon about the “rivalry between democracy and autocracy” in the world and said that the Asia-Pacific region is very important in this competition.

“We’ve talked extensively about the need to expand this beyond the United States, Japan and Korea to cover the entire Pacific, South Pacific and Indo-Pacific. I think this is an opportunity,” he said.

China is the main rival of the USA in this geopolitical struggle.

Before leaving South Korea, Biden met with Hyundai chairman Chung Eui-sun to celebrate the auto giant’s decision to invest $5.5 billion from the US in an electric car factory in southern Georgia.

Accompanied by the host president, he also visited American and South Korean troops stationed in this Asian country, a sign of the “truly integrated nature” of the Washington-Seoul economic and military alliance, according to a senior White House official.