US President Joe Biden said on Saturday (21) that the country had offered vaccines against the coronavirus to North Korea, which is suffering from an outbreak of Covid-19, and spoke about the possibility of a meeting with the country’s leader. , Kim Jong Un.
“On meeting with the leader of North Korea: it would depend on him to be sincere and serious,” Biden added, responding to questions from journalists.
“If I offered vaccines to North Korea: yes, we did. Not only to North Korea, but also to China. And we are prepared to do that immediately, but we have not received a response,” the president said during an interview with South Korea’s new president Yon Suk-yeol in Seoul.
In the South Korean capital on Saturday, Biden and Yoon agreed to step up military exercises and deploy more US weapons if needed to deter North Korea. The two leaders said the decades-long alliance between their countries needed to develop not only to address North Korean threats, but to keep the Indo-Pacific region “free and open” and protect global supply chains.
The presidents are meeting in Seoul for the first diplomatic engagement between the US and South Korea since Yoon took office 11 days ago. The meeting was marked by intelligence information showing that Kim Jong Un is prepared to carry out nuclear or missile tests.
Yoon sought further assurances that the United States would increase its deterrence against North Korean threats. In the interview, Biden reaffirmed the US commitment to defending South Korea with nuclear weapons if necessary.
The two sides agreed to consider expanding their joint military exercises, which have been scaled back in recent years in a concerted effort to ease tensions with the North.
The United States has also promised, if necessary, to deploy “strategic assets” — which typically include long-range bombers, missile submarines or aircraft carriers — to deter North Korea.
Both leaders said they were committed to the denuclearization of North Korea and open to diplomacy with Pyongyang, as well as offering vaccines to the country.
North Korea reported more than 200,000 new fever patients for the fifth straight day on Saturday as the country grapples with obstacles such as a lack of vaccines, inadequate medical infrastructure and a potential food crisis.
*Published by Marcelo Tuvuca, from CNN in São Paulo, with information from Trevor Hunnicutt, Hyonhee Shin, Jack Kim, Eric Beech and Josh Smith, from Reuters, in Seoul
Source: CNN Brasil
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