The US president Joe Biden on Saturday said that the US offered vaccines to North Korea but has not received a response.
Biden was addressing a joint press conference with Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, the South Korean president, and both expressed concern for people of Pyongyang who are currently fighting an Omicron outbreak.
“We’ve offered vaccines, not only to North Korea but to China as well, and we’re prepared to do that immediately. We’ve got no response,” Biden was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
In a joint statement both leaders said that they are ‘willing to work with the international community to provide assistance to the DPRK to combat the virus’.
Biden also said that if Kim Jong Un is ‘sincere’ then he would agree to meet the North Korean strongman.
There are reports that Kim Jong Un may prepare for a nuclear test during Biden’s visit, defying the UN sanctions against Pyongyang.
Kim is on a drive to modernize the North Korean military and has conducted a series of ballistic missile tests since the beginning of this year to display the progress made but also to gain attention as Pyongyang suffers from food shortages, which is further exacerbated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic raging across North Korea is unlikely to deter Kim. Even though millions are infected and hundreds are dying due to Pyongyang’s ill-preparedness, it is still likely that the test may be conducted.
Also, Kim will likely be irked as both Biden and Yoon said that their respective nations are ramping up joint military exercises.
“Our alliance between our countries is built upon shared sacrifice and a joint commitment to the freedom of the Republic of Korea and our firm opposition to changing borders by force,” Biden was quoted as saying by The Korea Herald.
Yoon and Biden both agreed to expand mutual investment and cooperate to stabilize the supply chains of industries like semiconductor and batteries. “We are living in an era of economic security where the economy is security and security is the economy, changes in the international trade order and disruptions in supply chains directly impact people’s livelihoods,” Yoon said.
Biden also sought to soothe the tense relations between Seoul and Tokyo. He said it was critical to have a trilateral relationship between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.
(with inputs from AFP and The Korea Herald)
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