Biden-Kishida First Video Conference on the 21st... Likely to Discuss Responses to China and North Korea (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgi Na Cho] U.S. President Joe Biden will hold a virtual summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the 21st (local time). This is the first official meeting since Prime Minister Kishida took office. Initially, Prime Minister Kishida wanted to visit the U.S. to meet President Biden in person, but the face-to-face meeting could not be arranged due to the spread of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.

The White House stated on the 16th, "President Biden will strengthen the ties between the two governments, economies, and peoples through a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Kishida." The two leaders are expected to emphasize the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance, which has been the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and worldwide. In particular, joint responses to China, which is expanding its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, and North Korea, which has launched ballistic missile provocations since the beginning of the year, are expected to be major agenda items.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, "President Biden looks forward to advancing our shared vision of a 'free and open Indo-Pacific' and expanding close cooperation on key issues such as COVID-19 response, climate crisis resolution, and new technology partnerships." The phrase 'free and open Indo-Pacific' is frequently used by the U.S. to counter China's influence. She also added that the meeting is expected to discuss ways to expand cooperation among the U.S., Japan, India, and Australia, an informal group known as the 'Quad.'

This will be the first official summit between President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida. The two spoke by phone shortly after Prime Minister Kishida took office in October last year and briefly met in person at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, UK, in early November of the same year. Since then, the Japanese government has sought a U.S.-Japan summit on the occasion of events related to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) held in New York this month, but it is reported that they judged an in-person meeting to be difficult due to the spread of Omicron.