President Biden talked tough during his five-day trip to Asia, but he didn’t always seem clear on his own policies, like when he was asked Sunday if he had a message for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
WHAT HE SAID
“We are prepared for anything North Korea does,” Biden said in Seoul, South Korea, in response to CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins asking him about the possibility of a nuclear test by Pyongyang.
Collins then prompted Biden to make a statement to Kim.
- “Hello,” Biden said to the North Korean dictator, and then after a pause, “Period.”
- A day earlier, following a meeting with South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, Biden said he would considering meeting with Kim to discuss nukes, but only if the tyrant were “sincere” and “serious.”
SAME ENERGY
In Tokyo on Sunday, Biden said the U.S. would respond militarily to defend Taiwan if China tries to take it by force, prompting an angry response from Beijing.
- The White House quickly walked back Biden’s departure from America’s longstanding policy of “strategy ambiguity” on Taiwan — for the third time in his presidency.
- Biden has repeatedly contradicted his administration on foreign policy, including by seeming to urge the overthrow of Russian President Vladimir Putin in March.
MEANWHILE
Still in Tokyo Monday, Biden announced the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a loosely defined economic bloc meant to counter China’s dominance of the region.
