North Korea to Top Agenda as Biden Meets with South Korean President at White House
Voice of America
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - U.S. President Joe Biden is due to meet Friday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Moon is only the second world leader Biden has hosted since taking office in January. The visit may be Moon’s final trip to the United States as head of state and the last chance to fulfill campaign pledges before his term ends.
The discussions between the two leaders are set to occur just a few weeks after the Biden administration finalized its months-long review of North Korea policy, one that signals a departure from previous administrations by pursuing a “calibrated, practical approach,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. This shift in rhetoric — one that strays from the Obama-era “strategic patience,” while refraining from making flashy deals — has yielded a “sense of calm” as Moon and Biden prepare to engage in talks, said Jean Lee, director of the Korea program at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. “When you use that rhetoric, that fire and fury, it gives North Korea the justification to test, and when they have that, it means the arsenal gets that much stronger,” Lee said. “The steadiness consistently being exuded by the Biden administration is designed to avoid this escalation of tensions we saw in the early parts of the Trump presidency.”In this screen grab, Kenyan President William Ruto speaks in an exclusive interview with VOA Swahili Service reporter Hubbah Abdi in Washington on Friday, May 24, 2024. In this screen grab, Kenyan President William Ruto speaks in an exclusive interview with VOA Swahili Service reporter Hubbah Abdi in Washington on Friday, May 24, 2024.
A demonstrator argues with police officers during an opposition protest of the foreign influence bill at the Parliamentary building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 28, 2024. The Georgian parliament overrode a presidential veto of the measure, which has sparked wide protests. Demonstrators gather at the Parliamentary building during a protest against the foreign influence bill in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 28, 2024. The Georgian parliament overrode a presidential veto of the legislation.
Villagers move a rock as part of search efforts following a devastating landslide, in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. (Juho Valta/UNDP Papua New Guinea via AP) Devastation caused by a landslide is seen in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. (Juho Valta/UNDP Papua New Guinea via AP)
A vendor with an umbrella over his head throws water over the bananas on a hot summer day in Varanasi on May 27, 2024. Children run behind a truck spraying water along a street on a hot summer day in New Delhi on May 28, 2024. Roadside food vendor Atma Prakash Singh in New Delhi says standing on the hot road in the sizzling summer is a problem. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) Ice cream vendor Jai Singh in New Delhi says he gets skin rashes due to the sizzling heat. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) People buy air coolers from a roadside vendor on a hot summer afternoon in New Delhi on May 20, 2024, amid the ongoing heatwave.
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