Biden to visit South Korea, Japan next month, as threats from China and North Korea escalate

President Joe Biden will travel in May to South Korea and Japan to discuss growing hostilities from China and North Korea with U.S. allies. The trip will be Biden's first visit to Asia as president.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the late May trip on Wednesday, just as Japan reported a Chinese naval vessel entering Japanese territorial waters around a number of uninhabited islands. 

Psaki said Biden will meet with the newly elected South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio over the course of the four day trip.

While in Japan, Biden will also meet with officials from Australia, India and Japan  – a group together known as the "Quad" – in an effort to establish stronger strategy to contain China's movement in the Indo-Pacific. 

Travel during Biden's first year in office was somewhat limited due to the coronavirus pandemic. But of late, his international and domestic travel schedules have taken a more robust form, as the U.S. leader prepared for midterm elections at home, and deals with foreign crises and hostile movements from China and North Korea abroad.