Thursday 19 May 2022 06:25 PM Biden heads to South Korea and Japan for first Asia trip with eyes on North ... trends now
President Joe Biden has departed for his first visit to Asia as commander-in-chief on Thursday amid escalating tensions in the region chiefly driven by China and North Korea.
He's leaving just days before the pandemic-era expulsion policy known as Title 42 is set to expire. The Department of Homeland Security is preparing for scenarios where agents at the southwestern border are reckoning with as many as 18,000 migrants per day.
Meanwhile mothers and families nationwide are struggling with a baby formula shortage, as Democrats in Congress call on Biden to appoint a coordinator to deal with the crisis.
The president did not answer shouted questions from reporters on Thursday but smiled and waved in a show of confidence before his five-day trip.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Wednesday that U.S. intelligence said there's a 'genuine possibility' that North Korea could conduct a missile or nuclear test while the president is visiting South Korea or Japan later this week.
'We are preparing for all contingencies, including the possibility that such a provocation would occur while we are in Korea or in Japan,' Sullivan said during Wednesday's press briefing.
Meanwhile, Biden is looking to reaffirm his administration's commitment to allies and partners in the region who fear China's increased aggression against Taiwan and in the South China Sea.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said Wednesday that Biden 'will not visit the DMZ' while in South Korea, the Korean Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea.
Biden visited the DMZ as vice president in 2013.
President Joe Biden left early Thursday afternoon for his first visit to Asia as commander-in-chief
He'll visit South Korea and Japan in a five day-long visit until next Tuesday
Biden did not stop to answer reporters' shouted questions but waved before boarding his plane
He's leaving the United States just days before the pandemic-era Title 42 policy is lifted
More recently, former President Donald Trump went to the DMZ in June of 2019 and crossed into North Korea, meeting leader Kim Jong Un, a year after they first held talks in Singapore.
In February 2019, Trump walked away from denuclearization talks with Kim at a second summit in Vietnam.
Since Trump's trio of Kim meetings, U.S. denuclearization talks with North Korea have stalled.
North Korea hasn't tested a nuclear bomb since 2017, but resumed testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles earlier this year.
Earlier this month, North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, South Korea and Japan said.
North Korea, however, is reportedly suffering from a COVID-19 outbreak for the first time.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (left) said Wednesday there's a 'genuine possibility' that North Korea could conduct a nuclear or missile test while President Joe Biden is in the region, while press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (right) said Biden wouldn't visit the DMZ
As of last week, then White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated a trip to the DMZ for Biden was still on the
