Japan's PM to visit US for talks with Biden in 1st half of April

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will visit Washington in the first half of April to hold talks with US President Joe Biden, with the trip aimed at strengthening Japan-US ties and coordinating efforts to tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic, Suga said here on Friday.

The trip will make Suga the first foreign leader to meet the US president face-to-face since Biden, a Democrat, was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States in January.

Earlier Friday, at a meeting of the government and the ruling coalition, Suga said, "I would like to make full use of this opportunity to further strengthen the Japan-US alliance," adding that he hopes to closely cooperate with Biden on a number of pertinent issues.

Suga's first trip overseas since becoming prime minister last September took place in October and saw the Japanese leader visit Vietnam and Indonesia.