Biden meets allies, warns of 'significant political change'

US President Joe Biden sought to use the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru to shore up relations with key allies before Donald Trump reenters the White House in January. 

"We have now reached a moment of significant political change," Biden said as he met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the summit in the Peruvian capital, Lima, on Friday.

"This is likely to be my last trilateral meeting with this important group, but I am proud to have helped be one of the parts of building this partnership," he added.

But Biden insisted that his internationalist approach would survive. He said of the Japan-South Korea alliance: "I think it's built to last. That's my hope and expectation."

Biden praises cooperation with Seoul, Tokyo

At the start of the meeting, Biden praised the cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States in countering what he called North Korea's "dangerous and destabilizing cooperation with Russia."

The talks come as North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to regain land in the Kursk border region that Ukrainian troops seized earlier this year.

"As we can see from the recent deployment of DPRK troops to Russia, the challenging security environment within and outside the region once again reminds us the importance of our trilateral cooperation," Yoon said, using the acronym for North Korea's formal name.

Ishiba also stressed the importance of the three nations acting as a bulwark against Pyongyang. "I look forward to furthering our partnership in response against North Korea and in many other areas," he added.

Biden's last global meetings

The APEC summit will be one of Biden's last global meetings before leaving office in January. On Saturday, Biden will meet one-on-one with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time since last year's APEC forum.

According to White House officials, his attendance in Peru, as well as his subsequent visit to Brazil for next week's Group of 20 meeting, will be substantive, with talks focusing on climate issues, global infrastructure and counter-narcotics efforts.

Officials said Biden will also use the summits to press allies to maintain support for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia's full-scale invasion and continue to negotiate an end to Israel's wars in Lebanon and Gaza.

dh/sms (AP, AFP)