President Joe Biden landed in South Korea on Friday for his first trip to Asia as US leader, aiming to cement ties with regional security allies as concern over a North Korean nuclear test grows.
He opened his trip to Asia on Friday by touring a South Korean computer chip factory in Pyeongtaek that will be the model for a plant in Texas, holding it out as an illustration of how deeper ties with the Indo-Pacific can fuel technological innovation and foster vibrant democracies.
“So much of the future of the world is going to be written here, in the Indo-Pacific, over the next several decades,” Biden said in . “This is the moment, in my view, to invest in one another to deepen our business ties, to bring our people even closer together.”
His comments came as Japan said it welcomes a new US Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) that Biden is expected to roll out during a visit to Tokyo next week because it demonstrates American commitment to a regional economic order that is not just about market access, an official said on Friday.
Biden’s visit comes as the allies face a growing threat from North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programme. The country’s authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un is trying to force the US to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power.
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