S Korea

On Friday, Biden arrived on his first visit to the country as President and only 10 days after Yoon took office, reports Yonhap News Agency. On the first stop of his three-day visit, Biden visited a Samsung semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul, on Friday. He was joined by Yoon and the two were given a personal tour of the sprawling compound by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

Biden is scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Friday for a three-day visit in the first leg of his first trip to Asia that will also take him to Japan next week. First lady Jill Biden is not traveling together with him, Yonhap news agency reported. Under a diplomatic protocol, it may be inappropriate for Kim to accompany Yoon because the US first lady is not accompanying Biden.

Yoon left his private home in southern Seoul at 8.21 a.m. and arrived at his office in the central district of Yongsan at 8.34 a.m., reports Yonhap News Agency. He will commute everyday for now while the Foreign Minister's official residence is being converted into the new presidential residence.

The 61-year-old kicked off his five-year term at midnight in the underground bunker of the new presidential office building in Yongsan by receiving a briefing from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. To usher in the new administration, a bell-ringing ceremony was held at the stroke of midnight in downtown Seoul.

Concerns have grown over natural gas supply disruptions in Europe amid the ongoing crisis surrounding Ukraine, as Russia is the biggest provider of gas to Europe, reports Yonhap News agency. On Wednesday, Russia's state-owned gas producer Gazprom said it had cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after the nations refused to pay for shipments in rubles.

Last year, the National Assembly approved a bill on a mega state project worth some 13.7 trillion won ($10.97 billion) to build the new airport on Gadeok Island, the biggest island of Busan, to handle growing air traffic demand and facilitate prosperity in the country's southeast region, reports Yonhap News Agency. According to the detailed plan announced by the Ministry on Tuesday, the new facility will be an offshore airport, which is to be built on a floating structure at sea.

Kim sent the letter on Thursday in response to a farewell letter that Moon sent the previous day as he prepared to leave office after a five-year term that included three summit meetings with the North Korean leader and two summits between Kim and former US President Donald Trump, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Volodymyr Zelensky made the request in a virtual address before South Korean lawmakers, saying Ukraine needs various military technologies, including planes and tanks, reports Yonhap News Agency. "The Republic of Korea can help Ukraine. South Korea has the various military equipment that can stop Russia's vessels and missiles," he said.

Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby on Friday also highlighted the importance of South Korea-US joint training exercises, Yonhap news agency reported. "All our training events are meant to improve our readiness," the spokesperson said when asked if a US-South Korea joint military exercise, set to be held later this month, was meant to send a strong signal to the North.

On Wednesday, Sherman also highlighted the importance of the Indo-Pacific region, noting it is home to more than half of the global population and over 60 per cent of the global economy. "The US is a proud Indo-Pacific nation. Our future is entwined more closely with the Indo-Pacific than with any other part of the world," the deputy secretary said in a House Foreign Services Committee hearing on restoring American leadership in the Indo-Pacific, Yonhap news agency reported.