Michael DeSombre, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, is set to visit South Korea next week to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue and the Indo-Pacific strategy.
The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday that Assistant Secretary DeSombre will be visiting Tokyo, Seoul, and Ulaanbaatar from March 9 to 17.
The State Department explained that the purpose of this visit is to further strengthen cooperation with Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia on shared priorities across the Indo-Pacific region.
DeSombre is a key official at the State Department overseeing policies related to China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.
This trip is garnering attention as it comes ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China in late March or early April for a summit with President Xi Jinping.
As President Trump continues to express his willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea, there is speculation that his visit to China could potentially lead to unexpected talks with Kim Jong Un, the General Secretary of North Korea’s Workers’ Party.
Before Trump’s visit to China, DeSombre is expected to visit South Korea and Japan to coordinate allied positions on responses to North Korea’s nuclear threats and the upcoming U.S.-China summit.