U.S. President Joe Biden will urge the importance of nuclear disarmament at the Group of Seven summit beginning Friday in Hiroshima, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby.
In an online interview with Kyodo News on Tuesday, Kirby said that Biden has a "long-standing concern about the ramifications of the potential for nuclear war in the future" and aims to reaffirm his stance after arriving in Japan on Thursday.
Biden has maintained the vision of former U.S. President Barack Obama, under whom he served as vice president, of a world without nuclear weapons.
Kirby said Biden plans to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, which commemorates the dropping of an atomic bomb on the western Japan city in 1945 by the United States, to "reverently and solemnly" pay his respects to the lives lost in the attack.
Biden is also set to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday to look for ways to "improve our interoperability and cooperation across all military domains," including air, sea, land and cyberspace, according to Kirby.
When he meets with Kishida and South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the three-day summit, Biden will stress the importance of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula amid repeated threats and intercontinental ballistic missile tests by North Korea, Kirby said.
Biden will also work together with Kishida and Yoon to ensure the three countries have the "right capabilities in place to protect ourselves," said the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications.
Yoon will attend the G-7 summit, which will bring together the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union, as a guest.
Biden's trip will focus "more on the future," with the G-7 leaders set to discuss topics including economy, energy security and ways to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, Kirby said.
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