South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and his US counterpart Joe Biden will discuss North Korean provocations, economic security, and contributions to pressing world concerns during their first-ever summit this week, a senior official said on Sunday.
According to media reports, Biden is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Friday for a meeting with the incoming South Korean President the following day before visiting Japan on May 22 on his first Asia tour since his inauguration last year.
The two presidents will address how to respond to North Korea's provocations, according to the official, as well as bilateral cooperation in supply chain difficulties, new technologies, and other economic security issues. South Korea's contributions to critical international issues, as well as how to coordinate them, are also on the agenda.
According to the official, Yoon's top aim at the summit is to build confidence with Biden and deepen the South Korean-US alliance and unified defence posture.
The US has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea to discourage North Korean aggression, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which concluded in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The summit will take conducted at the new presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, as well as a joint press conference.
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