Seoul, May 21 (AFP/APP): US President Joe Biden and South Korea’s newly sworn-in President Yoon Suk-yeol said Saturday they will consider stepping up joint military exercises in response to the “threat” from North Korea, while also offering to help the isolated dictatorship face down a Covid-19 outbreak.
After meeting in Seoul on Biden’s first trip to Asia as president, the two leaders said in a statement that “considering the evolving threat posed by” North Korea, they “agree to initiate discussions to expand the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training on and around the Korean peninsula.”
Reaching out to Pyongyang, the statement said the two leaders also “express concern over the recent Covid-19 outbreak” there and “are willing to work with the international community to provide assistance” to North Korea to help fight the virus.
Yoon said the offer of Covid aid was being made according to “humanitarian principles, separate from political and military issues” with Pyongyang.
The two presidents are committed to North Korea’s “complete denuclerisation”, he said, adding that “nothing is more important than a strong deterrence against the North”.
Biden began his day by paying respects at Seoul National Cemetery, where soldiers killed defending South Korea, including many who fought alongside US troops in the Korean War, are buried.
He then held closed-door talks with Yoon ahead of a joint press conference and state dinner.
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