Visiting South Korea And Japan This Week, President Biden May Talk To Chinese President Xi Jinping: Discuss North Korea's Missiles?

President Joe Biden with President Xi Jinping. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden could talk to his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping in the coming weeks, on the North Korean issue.

This was stated by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan aboard Air Force One on Thursday, following President Biden's working visit to South Korea and Japan.

"I wouldn't be surprised if, in the coming weeks, President Biden and President Xi spoke again," he said.

Earlier, Sullivan spoke with Yang Jiechi, the top foreign policy adviser to President Xi on Wednesday. Sullivan said he conveyed directly to the senior diplomat the US concerns about North Korea's nuclear and missile activities. And this view is not in the interests of China.

"That's not in America's interest, with China having to consider taking whatever steps it can to reduce the possibility of North Korea's provocative actions," he said.

"We have a good exchange on this," he added, with issues regarding Taiwan and others also being discussed at the talks.

President Biden landed in South Korea on Friday night, where he met new President Yoon Suk-yeol, with North Korea at the top of the agenda.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has shrugged off a freeze on intercontinental ballistic missile testing, and appears ready to resume nuclear bomb testing, including possibly while President Biden is in the region.