Remarks by President Biden After Marine One Arrival

Video: North Korea reportedly test-fired several short-range missiles last weekend.

Q    On North Korea, sir: Do you consider that to be a real provocation by North Korea — the missile launch?

THE PRESIDENT:  No.  According to the Defense Department, it’s business as usual.  There’s no new — there’s no new wrinkle in what they did.

Q    Does it affect diplomacy at all?

THE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.) 

END 

Remarks by President Biden Before Boarding Air Force One

MARCH 23, 2021 

Q    Were you getting a briefing, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, I was. 

Q    Can you share what’s going on?

THE PRESIDENT:  It was a foreign policy issue.

Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

MARCH 23, 2021 • SPEECHES AND REMARKS

Via Teleconference

5:33 P.M. EDT

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Hi. Good afternoon everyone, and thanks very much for joining us on short notice.  Today’s call is going to be on background, attributed to “senior administration officials.”  And the contents of this call are going to be embargoed until its conclusion. 

Our speakers today are going to be [senior administration official] and [senior administration official].  I’ll turn it over to our speakers for opening remarks, and then we’re happy to take a few questions. 

[Senior administration official], why don’t you start us off.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Great.  Thanks.  Hi everybody.  We wanted to give an update on what has been and will continue to be an intensive period for Indo-Pacific diplomacy. 

As you all know, the President hosted a head of state Quad that was quickly followed by our Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State participating in two-plus-two dialogues in Japan and Korea, and then two days of meetings in Anchorage between U.S. and Chinese officials. 

And we wanted to take a few minutes to update you on where things stand, particularly on North Korea, which was featured in all of those conversations.  We also have some additional upcoming engagements on these issues I have tell you about as well.  Relatedly, we’re also aware of military activity last weekend by the DPRK that is not sanctioned under U.N. Security Council resolutions restricting the ballistic missile program. 

While we take all of its military activity seriously and will continue to consult closely on this with partners and allies, we see this action in the category of normal activity — most normal military activity by the North.  North Korea has a familiar menu of provocations when it wants to send a message to a U.S. administration: ballistic missiles of various range, mobile and submarine launch platforms, nuclear and thermonuclear tests.  Experts rightly recognized what took place last weekend as falling on the low end of that spectrum. 

On a related note, many of you have asked about the status of our North Korea policy review.  We’re in the final stages of that review, and next week plan to host the national security advisors of Japan and the Republic of Korea to discuss the outcomes and other issues.  This is the first time that we will have convened the trilat at this level.  And these will be among the most senior foreign officials to visit Washington since the start of the Biden administration.  We look forward to a robust discussion on a wide range of issues on how the U.S., Japan, and South Korea can deepen our trilateral cooperation. 

And I want to turn it over to my colleague for more details.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks.  And thanks, guys, for all your patience and joining us today. 

So let me just say that we’ve been working intensively since the beginning of the administration — actually, during the transition on thinking about next steps with regard to diplomacy or engagement on the Korean Peninsula. 

We’ve consulted broadly throughout the interagency.  We’ve engaged deeply with our allies.  We’ve also had a series of conversations with Trump administration officials to get their sense of how their diplomacy with North Korea worked out over the last four years.  And we’ve been in touch with virtually every individual who’s been involved in diplomacy with North Korea since the mid-1990s.  So this has been an extraordinarily thorough process, and we’re nearing the conclusion of putting together our approach for North Korea. 

And the next step for us will be, as [senior administration official] indicated, National Security Advisor Sullivan hosting his colleagues next week — at the end of next week for intensive consultations on the way ahead.  I think we recognize that, you know, we are stronger if we approach these challenging issues in North Korea in partnership with Japan and South Korea. 

I do just want to underscore here, quickly, before we get to questions: We are no — under no illusions about the difficulty this task presents to us.  We have a long history of disappointment in diplomacy with North Korea.  It’s defied expectations of Republican and Democratic administrations alike.  We’ve had working groups.  We’ve tried it at the highest levels, at the head of state.  And all the while, we’ve seen North Korea proceed ahead accordingly. 

The situation is also more challenging in Northeast Asia.  You’ve got more tensions between Japan and South Korea, and, of course, U.S.-China relations are heading into a complex period.  All of those reasons underscore why the United States engaging effectively, with respect to the North Korean challenge, is so important as we go forward. 

Why don’t we stop here?  We’re happy to take questions. 

I do just want to underscore very quickly a point that I think [senior administration official] made effectively.  My colleague and I and others — we’ve been in administrations where the North Koreans have really tested with provocative actions: nuclear tests, long-range systems.  I would say, generally speaking, what we saw this weekend does not fall in that category.

Q    Mr. President, a couple of Asian American senators have threatened to veto your — your nominees if you don’t nominate diverse candidates.  Have you spoken to them?

Q    Could you tell you us about North Korea and firing of the rockets — what you’ve learned?

THE PRESIDENT:  We have learned that there is nothing much has changed. 

Thank you.