
North Korea expected to be central part of Biden's meetings with South Korea
CNN
Joe Biden begins his first visit to Asia as President in earnest Saturday, meeting with South Korea's newly elected leader as the country's belligerent northern neighbor appeared poised to thrust itself into the conversation with a nuclear or missile test.
The hermit nation's intensifying provocations were expected to be at the center of Biden's talks with South Korea's new president Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office a little more than a week ago and has signaled a tougher stance on Pyongyang than his predecessor.
Yet Biden also hopes to use the occasion of a new leader in Seoul to expand the US alliance with South Korea beyond just a security partnership defined by the North. Officials said in their first meeting, the US president was hoping to cultivate a willing economic partner who can also help advance collective security goals in the broader Asia-Pacific.

Approximately 1,000 US soldiers with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division are expecting to deploy in coming days to the Middle East, according to two sources familiar with the matter, adding to the growing military firepower in the region as the Trump administration says it is in talks with Iran to end the conflict.












