Yoon to hold summit with Biden in Seoul on May 21

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- Incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden will hold their first summit in Seoul on May 21, officials said Thursday. Biden plans to visit South Korea from May 20-22 for his first trip to the country since taking office in January last year, they said. The visit will come as tensions have been running high over North Korea's weapons testing, including its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in over four years last month. "President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol plans to hold in-depth discussions with President Biden on a wide range of issues, including developing the South Korea-U.S. alliance and cooperation on North Korea policy, as well as economic security and key regional and international issues," Yoon's spokesperson Bae Hyun-jin said in a statement. "Through this, we expect a historic turning point will be provided to further develop the two countries' comprehensive strategic alliance," she said. Biden's visit will come only 10 days after Yoon takes office on May 10, making their meeting the earliest-ever South Korea-U.S. summit to take place following a South Korean president's inauguration. On Wednesday, Yoon said he believes Biden's visit will be a "good opportunity" for the alliance to be "comprehensively reinforced." The White House said the U.S. president will travel to South Korea and Japan from May 20-24 for summits with both countries' leaders. hague@yna.co.kr (END)