Just before US President Joe Biden wrapped up his three-day visit to South Korea on Sunday, he reportedly said, “Hello. Period.” to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when asked for a message. That’s it.
Here’s why.
While the US has been trying to restart diplomatic communications diplomacy with North Korea, most attempts have been unsuccessful. Even if it does agree to talk, North Korea refuses to go forward without preconditions. So because of this, US intelligence believes that the dictator might be setting up a nuclear test during Biden’s Asia tour.
Biden’s message was a sharp redirection from former President Donald Trump’s attitude toward the dictator, who summed up one of their meetings by saying, “We fell in love.” Regardless, though, the US is reportedly prepared for potential retaliation. For now, Biden has landed in Japan, his second stop in Asia.
Key comments:
“Mr. President, your country’s democracy shows the power to be able to deliver for its people,” US President Joe Biden told South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at a state dinner on Saturday evening. “We’re proud to say, the general who was with me today can say as well, that our armed forces stand side-by-side, standing sentinel on a peninsula for seven decades to preserve the peace and make possible that shared prosperity.”
“With regard to whether I would meet with the leader of North Korea, that would depend on whether he was sincere and whether he was serious,” said Biden to reporters on Saturday.
“We are prepared for anything North Korea does,” said US President Joe Biden to reporters in Seoul. “We’ve thought through how we’d respond to whatever they do, and so I am not concerned.”
