Biden to host South Korea’s president in late May

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden will host South Korean President Moon Jae-in for meetings in the second half of May, the White House announced Thursday.

It will be Biden’s second opportunity to sit in person with a foreign counterpart since he took office during the coronavirus pandemic. It will follow face-to-face meetings Biden has scheduled for Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said a date for Moon’s visit would be announced later.

Biden’s meeting with his South Korean counterpart follows recent visits to Seoul by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, and a three-way meeting in April in Annapolis, Maryland, among the national security advisers from the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Biden’s meeting with Moon “will highlight the ironclad U.S.-South Korea alliance and the long-standing ties and friendships between the people of our two countries.”