South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit the White House on Friday, May 21, becoming the second foreign leader, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, to visit the White House during the Biden administration. Senior White House officials said that President Biden and Moon will talk about Taiwan, and that the subsequent U.S.-Korea joint statement will mention Taiwan as strongly as the U.S.-Japan joint statement with Kan.
The White House National Security Council held a background briefing on Moon’s visit in the afternoon of May 19. The White House NSC held a background briefing on May 19 in response to Moon’s visit, and was asked whether the joint U.S.-South Korea statement would mention the Communist Party’s actions against Taiwan, as did the U.S.-Japan joint statement issued after Japanese Prime Minister Kan’s visit last month. The senior official responded that there would be a specific reference to the overall regional security and the maintenance of peace and stability. The senior official also said that in terms of intensity, it will not be lighter than the U.S.-Japan joint statement, and that the U.S. and South Korea share the same view of the challenges they face in the Indo-Pacific region. The senior official also said that the United States, Japan and South Korea all face the same challenges, and these challenges include China.
President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held a joint press conference in the White House Rose Garden after their bilateral meeting on April 17. Kan said the two “talked about the situation in Taiwan and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Japan and the United States already have a consensus on the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and that consensus was reaffirmed during this meeting.” The subsequent U.S.-Japanese joint statement reads, “Emphasizing the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and encouraging the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues.” This is the first time since 1969 that a joint statement by U.S. and Japanese leaders has included Taiwan.
Senior Biden administration officials have described the U.S. and South Korea as an “ironclad alliance,” and the bilateral meeting between Moon and Biden will discuss a wide range of issues, including shared values, regional security, science and technology, health, North Korea, and climate change. President Biden will also emphasize his strong commitment to peace, security and prosperity in Korea, Northeast Asia, and a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
President Biden’s “Build Back Better” policy emphasizes consolidating key supply chains and promoting Made in America. The visit will be accompanied by a number of Korean technology executives, and will be led by South Korean Minister of Industry, Trade and Resources Moon Seung-wook, who will hold a roundtable with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and U.S. technology executives to discuss batteries, advanced semiconductors, and how both sides can work together on innovation and supply chain building.
The Biden administration’s North Korea policy review has been completed, and the U.S. is willing to promote the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula through diplomacy and dialogue. Senior officials would not elaborate on the details of the Biden administration’s North Korea policy, nor would they respond to what the Biden administration would do about former President Trump’s Singapore statement with Kim Jong-un and the end of the inter-Korean war, saying only that the U.S. would take a flexible approach and that denuclearization was a clear goal, and that even after Biden met with Moon Jae-in, he would not publicly list the details of his North Korea policy, but would instead work with allies, partners and the U.S. Congress in private. The U.S. will not publicly lay out the details of North Korea policy even after Biden’s meeting with Moon, but rather communicate privately and discreetly with allies, partners and the U.S. Congress.
President Biden will present the Presidential Medal to Army Colonel Ralph Puckett Jr. on Friday for his service in the Korean War, and Moon will also attend the ceremony.
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