President Joe Biden hinted that his staff had suggested what news outlets to call on during his joint press conference with South Korea President Moon Jae-in.
“First question, I’m told, is MaryAlice Parks, ABC,” Biden said Friday, opening the duo’s two rounds of questions.
Parks went on to ask Biden about how he is balancing Democratic demands to ratchet up pressure on the Israeli government over its approach to Palestinian militants and whether there has been a shift in his party’s attitudes toward Israel.
The U.S. president has had a number of awkward moments and moments since taking office, following a career in the Senate and as vice president of making regular gaffes. Experts, however, doubt these so-called “Uncle Joe” moments will damage Biden in terms of his job approval polling numbers or his odds of winning a second term, should he run in 2024.
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All White House staffs take part in scripting how joint and solo press conferences play out, however. Aides from the Obama and Trump press offices routinely called reporters to measure what topics, but not specific questions, they might want to discuss with their bosses.
Shortly after Moon touched down in the United States on Wednesday, senior Biden administration officials said their agenda would concentrate on North Korea and regional security, as well as technology, health, and climate issues.
“My team consulted closely with President Moon’s team throughout the process of the DPRK review, and we are both are deeply concerned about the situation,” Biden said Friday, naming a special envoy.
The Biden administration recently completed its North Korea policy review after former President Donald Trump’s hot and cold relationship with the rogue nation’s leader, Kim Jong Un. Biden’s overarching policy for the region was the total denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, officials said
“This objective or policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain, nor will it rely on strategic patience. Our policy calls for a calibrated, practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with the DPRK to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies, and our deployed forces,” one source said earlier this week, using the abbreviation for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
They added, “We intend to build on the Singapore agreement but also other agreements made by previous administrations.”
The U.S.-North Korea relations appeared at first to improve under Trump, the former president meeting with Kim twice, once in 2018 in Singapore and a year later in Vietnam. But the relationship soured again after the duo failed to agree on nuclear disarmament or sanctions, cutting their Vietnamese summit short.
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Moon is the second foreign leader to visit the White House after a working meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga last month. The South Korean president was honored with an invitation to attend a Medal of Honor ceremony, the first foreign dignitary believed to ever take part in such an event.
