Biden remains silent on North Korea amid Russian invasion of Ukraine

President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., watch on March 1. AP-Yonhap

U.S. President Joe Biden left North Korea out of his first State of the Union address Tuesday that laid out various challenges facing his country, including the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. leader, however, thanked South Korea, along with dozens of other countries, for condemning what he called Russia's "unjustified" and "totally unprovoked" aggression on Ukraine.

"Along with twenty-seven members of the European Union including France, Germany, Italy, as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and many others, even Switzerland, are inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine," Biden said in his address, delivered in a joint session of U.S. Congress.

South Korea has agreed to suspend financial transactions with seven major Russian banks as part of the international efforts to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine.

The chief of its U.N. mission, Ambassador Cho Hyun, also urged Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine while addressing an emergency meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, held earlier Tuesday in New York.

Russian forces escalate attacks on Ukraine's civilian areas 2022-03-02 10:44  |  World
Many had anticipated Biden to focus on the most urgent issues in his first State of the Union address since taking office in January 2021.

Still, the address comes after North Korea staged eight missile tests in just two months since the start of the year, which, according to the North, included two launches of a new hypersonic glide vehicle and the firing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile.

The Biden administration, since taking office in January 2021, has repeatedly offered to meet with North Korea "without any preconditions."

Pyongyang, however, has remained unresponsive to the U.S. outreach, and it has avoided denuclearization negotiations with Washington since late 2019.

The challenges facing the U.S. laid out by Biden included competition with China and climate change, as well as rising inflation at home. (Yonhap)

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