1 week Ago
President Biden on Friday praised the cooperation among South Korea, Japan, and the US at countering what he described as North Korea's "dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia." Biden spoke at the start of a meeting in Peru with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The talks came amid heightened concerns about North Korea's growing military partnership with Russia and Pyongyang's stepped-up cadence of ballistic missile tests, the reports.
Biden celebrated the partnership between Japan and South Korea, two countries that have historical enmity but under Biden's presidency are now tightening security and economic ties as their part of the world becomes more complicated. Biden noted that it would be his last meeting with them but that the trilateral partnership should be preserved for years to come. "I'm proud of how far we've come," Biden said.
"Whatever the issue, we've taken it on together." At the moment, North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to claw back land in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized earlier this year. "As we can see from the recent deployment of DPRK troops to Russia, the challenging security environment within and outside the region once again reminds us the importance of our trilateral cooperation," Yoon said, using the initials for North Korea's formal name.
Biden is on a six-day visit to Latin America for the final major international summits of his presidency, following up APEC with a gathering in Brazil of leaders from the Group of 20 top economies. He's likely to face questions from world leaders about the incoming administration, per the AP, as they turn their attention to what Donald Trump's return to the White House will mean for them. The growing North Korea-Russia relationship was top of mind for the three-country meeting.
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