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US President Joe Biden meets virtually with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on April 11. (AP/Yonhap News)

US President Joe Biden announced that he will be visiting Tokyo in late May in order to attend a Quad summit. It’s likely that Biden will take the opportunity to visit South Korea as well, leading to projections that South Korea and the US will be holding a summit around that time.

On Monday, the White House released a transcript of the virtual meeting between Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that took place on the same day. According to the transcript, Biden told Modi, “I’m looking forward to seeing you in Japan, about the 24th of May.”

Biden will be visiting Japan for the second in-person summit of the Quad, a strategic dialogue among the US, Japan, Indian and Australia aimed at keeping China in check.

Biden’s announcement that he will be attending the Quad summit in Japan has led to projections that the US president will meet South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who takes office on May 10.

People Power Party lawmaker Park Jin, who led the South Korean delegation Yoon sent to the US for policy negotiations with the country, said on Thursday that during his US visit, he “expressed the thought that Biden should visit [South Korea] while he visits Asia and hold a summit with South Korea,” which the US agreed with, according to Park. Park also noted that the two sides of South Korea and the US established a consensus on holding an early summit between the two countries.

If Biden visits South Korea as many predict, it will be his first time in South Korea since his inauguration in January of last year. If a South Korea-US summit takes place in late May, Yoon will have met the US president earlier in his term than any South Korean president.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with then-US President Donald Trump within 51 days of starting his term, while former South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with then-US President Barack Obama within 71 days of her term. Former South Korean Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Roh Moo-hyun each met then-US President George W. Bush within 54 days and 79 days of taking office, respectively.

Though a summit of the Quad was expected to take place in May, its timing was subject to change, as the schedule for the Australian general election hadn’t been finalized. But Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced that Australia will hold its general election on May 21, resolving the uncertainty surrounding the Quad summit somewhat.

If a South Korea-US summit takes place, it’s highly likely that the most important topic of discussion will be responding to North Korea’s nuclear weapons. Other agendas may include potential cooperation between South Korea and the US regarding supply chains to hold China in check, as well as South Korea’s participation in the Quad working group.

By Lee Bon-young, Washington correspondent

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