Biden rolls out the red carpet for South Korean President Yoon

President Joe Biden welcomed South Korean President Yoon Sun Yeol to the White House on Wednesday as the United States sent nuclear-armed submarines to dock in South Korea for the first time in 40 years in a show of force aimed at deterring North Korean aggression.

Biden and Yoon are meeting amid worries about aggressive action from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un toward his neighbor to the south.

The U.S. president emphasized the close friendship with South Korea. 

‘We celebrate the ironclad alliance, shared vision of our future and the deep friendship with the United States, Republic of Korea and the United States,’ Biden said in his welcoming remarks. 

Provocative actions from North Korea, China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific and the recent leak of classified documents from the Pentagon will top the agenda when the two leaders meet in the Oval Office. 

‘I think our partnership is ready to take on any challenges,’ Biden said in the Oval Office. 

But the two leaders started their day on a note of pomp and circumstance with a formal welcome and military review on the South Lawn of the White House.

Yoon, in his remarks, paid tribute to the 70-year alliance between the two nations, and thanked the U.S. for fighting in the Korean War: ‘Our alliance is forged in blood as a fight for freedom. It’s not a transactional alliance. It’s an alliance of values for safeguarding freedom. It’s a global alliance for freedom, peace, prosperity.’

The state visit – the second of the Biden administration – came the day after President Biden formally announced he was seeking another term in office. And as he welcomed Yoon to the White House, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s expected to announce a run for the Republican presidential nomination, was in South Korea on a trade mission.

On a beautiful spring day, President Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed President Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee to the White House. The two couples shook hands and met each other’s official delegations.

After both leaders stood for the national anthems, President Biden and President Yoon inspected the awaiting military before a traditional Fife and Drum band, wearing traditional redcoats and white wigs, serenaded both heads of state. 

More than 6,000 people gathered to hear the president welcome his South Korean counterpart. The presidential podium was flanked by VIPs, diplomats, military, including a handful of veterans from the 1950-1953 Korean War, and other top U.S. officials. They also included local school children waving US and Korean flags.

Girls from a New Jersey children’s choir opened the ceremony with a rendition of the traditional South Korean song ‘Arirang.’

The music, which has twice featured on the UNESCO cultural heritage list, is a traditional folk song that is still performed today in North and South Korea. Estimated to have been written 600 years ago, it marks a rare symbol of unity between the two nations that are technically still at war.

As part of the visit, Biden and Yoon will announce the ‘Washington declaration’: a new agreement to strengthen extended deterrence, which is a US policy that uses the full range of military capabilities to defend its allies.

That includes the deployment of a nuclear ballistic submarine, which is a response to nuclear threats from Pyongyang.

‘The Washington Declaration has been in discussion with the Korean government for months and in it we will reaffirm our commitment to make every effort to consult with [South Korea] in potential nuclear crises,’ a senior administration official told reporters on a briefing call on Tuesday.

Kim Jong Un has decried the military alliance between Washington D.C. and Seoul, accusing the two countries of ‘aggressive’ action and of trying to start an all-out war. 

President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol review the troops on the South Lawn of the White House

First lady Jill Biden and South Korea’s first lady Kim Keon Hee stand for the national anthems

President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol meet in the Oval Office to discuss North Korean aggression and other issues

President Biden and President Yoon stand with the Washington Monument in their view

Troops from the U.S. military branches were part of the welcoming ceremony

US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol listen to the national anthems 

The deal is aimed at calming South Korean fears of an attack from its neighbor. The agreement will see Washington and Seoul coordinate more deeply on nuclear response strategy if North Korea attacks the South.

Control of the nuclear weapons will remain in U.S. hands, however, and no nuclear weapons are being deployed on South Korean shores.

The U.S. and South Korea will also engage in joint military exercises. 

In return, South Korea will reaffirm its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, an agreement signed by several major nuclear and non-nuclear powers that pledged their cooperation to stem the spread of nuclear technology.

Earlier this year, in response to Kim Jong Un’s nuclear tests, South Korea’s President Yoon spoke about possibly developing his country’s own set of nuclear weapons, which would be a violation of the treaty. 

Yoon’s visit comes as Washington and Seoul are celebrating 70 years of the US-South Korea alliance. 

It began when President Biden and first lady Jill Biden took Yoon and his wife Kim Keon-hee on a twilight tour of the Korean War Memorial on Tuesday evening.

The two couples met with Judy Wade, the niece of Corporal Luther Story, who was given the Medal of Honor posthumously in 1951 for his valiant actions during the Korean War. 

During the battle of Yongsan in 1950, Story was credited with killing or wounding an estimated 100 enemy soldiers and kept members of his unit alive by throwing grenades at an enemy truck filled with soldiers and an ammunition trailer. 

As his company tried to withdraw, he was wounded and was last seen ‘firing every weapon available’ to hold off another attack, according to his Medal of Honor citation. 

Story was considered missing for 73 years until modern technology was able to identify his remains. 

Members of the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps

President Biden and President Yoon inspect the troops

Military personnel walk on the South lawn

Girls from a New Jersey children’s choir opened the ceremony with a rendition of the traditional South Korean song ‘Arirang.’

The South Lawn had more than 6,000 guests for the arrival ceremony

Children wait for the presidents arrival, waving U.S. and South Korean flags

The couples also exchanged gifts.

The Bidens presented Yoon and Kim with a small table made by an American furniture maker from mahogany and historical White House wood, which was inspired by traditional Korean soban tables. 

A brass plaque marking the state visited will be included with the table, as will a vase filled with handmade paper hibiscus and rose flowers, crafted by a Korean-American artist. 

Additionally, President Biden gave Yoon a shadow box filled with custom and vintage baseball memorabilia. 

Dr. Biden gave Kim a pendant necklace with a trio of blue sapphires designed by a Korean-American designer.

The visit will capped with a black-tie state dinner on Wednesday night.