President Biden pushes economic and security aims on S Korea visit
US President Joe Biden has tended to both business and security interests as he wrapped up a three-day visit to South Korea.
Mr Biden first showcased Hyundai's pledge to invest at least $10 billion (£8 billion) in electric vehicles and related technologiesintheus,andlater mingledwithtroopsatanearby military base.
Mr Biden's visit to Osan Air Base, where thousands of US and South Korean service members monitor the rapidly evolving North Korean nuclear threat, was his final stop before hearrivedintokyolateronsunday.
"You are the front line, right here in this room," Mr Biden said in a command centre with maps of the Korean peninsula projected across screens on a wall. Afterwards, Mr Biden chatted with troops and their dependents at the base's bowling alley.
It was a day that brought together two key messages that Mr Biden is trying to project during his first trip to Asia as president.
At a time of high inflation and simmering dissatisfaction at home, Mr Biden emphasised his global mission to strengthen the American economy by convincing foreign companies such as Hyundai to launch new operations in the United States.
And he wanted to demonstrate solidarity with nervous Asian allies who live in the shadowofnorthkorea'snuclear weapons and grew sceptical of US security commitments while Donald Trump was in office.
Earlier, Mr Biden brushed asidequestionsaboutanypossibleprovocationbynorthkorea, such as testing a nuclear weaponorballisticmissile,duringhis trip, saying: "We are prepared foranythingnorthkoreadoes."
Asked if he had a message for the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, Mr Biden offered a clipped response. "Hello. Period."
It was another sharp departure from his predecessor, Mr Trump, who once said he "fell in love" with Mr Kim.
Hyundai's investment includes $5.5 billion for an electric vehicle and battery factory in Georgia.
Appearingwiththeusleader, Hyundaichiefexecutiveeuisun Chung said his company would spend another five billion on artificial intelligence for autonomous vehicles and other technologies.
"Electric vehicles are good for our climate goals, but they're also good for jobs," Mr Biden said."andthey'regoodforbusiness."
The major US investment by a South Korean company is a reflection of how the US and South Korea are leveraging their longstanding military ties into a broader economic partnership.
The US president has made greater economic co-operation with South Korea a priority, saying on Saturday that "it will bring our two countries even closer together, cooperating even more closely than we alreadydo,andhelpstrengthen our supply chains, secure them against shocks and give our economiesacompetitiveedge".
The pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Februaryhasforcedadeeperrethinkingofnationalsecurityandeconomic alliances.
Covid outbreaks led to shortagesofcomputerchips,carand other goods that the administration says can be fixed by having more manufacturing domestically and with allies.