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| Combined photo shows U.S. President Joe Biden (R, Getty) and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. (File photo by=Kyodo) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Japan's top government spokesman revealed on Friday Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington will take place on April 16, a week later than previously planned.
The delay is necessary "to allow more time for preparation to ensure the success" of Suga's trip, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a press conference. A Japanese government source said the United States asked to reschedule to focus on dealing with COVID-19. The meeting, Biden's first with a foreign leader since taking office, will be a chance to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and affirm cooperation on a range of issues including efforts to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region, pandemic response, climate change, China, and recent North Korean missile tests, Kato said.
Suga already had his first shot of Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine in preparation for the trip and is set to receive the second dose next week. The meeting comes as Biden's administration reviews North Korea policy in consultation with its allies after his predecessor Donald Trump failed to secure a denuclearization deal in three summits with the reclusive country's leader Kim Jong Un. Suga and Biden are set to condemn the launches and call for North Korea's complete denuclearization in a joint statement after the meeting, government sources have said.
