Ten United States presidents have made presidential visits to East Asia. The first presidential trip to a country in East Asia was made by Dwight D. Eisenhower (as president-elect) in 1952. Since then, all presidents, except John F. Kennedy, have traveled to one or more nations in the region while in office.
To date, 25 visits have been made to Japan, 20 to South Korea, 14 to China, and one each to Mongolia and to North Korea.
Table of visit
President | Dates | Countries | Locations | Key details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dwight D. Eisenhower | December 2–5, 1952 | South Korea | Seoul | Visit to Korean combat zone. (Visit made as President-elect.) |
June 18–19, 1960 | Taiwan | Taipei | State visit. Met with President Chiang Kai-shek | |
June 19–20, 1960 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with Prime Minister Heo Jeong. Addressed the National Assembly. | |
Lyndon B. Johnson | October 31 – November 2, 1966 | South Korea | Seoul, Suwon |
State visit. Met with President Park Chung-hee and Prime Minister Chung Il-kwon. Addressed National Assembly. |
Richard Nixon | February 21–28, 1972 | China | Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou |
State Visit. Met with Party Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. |
Gerald Ford | November 19–22, 1974 | Japan | Tokyo, Kyoto |
State visit. Met with Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. |
November 22–23, 1974 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Park Chung-hee. | |
December 1–5, 1975 | China | Peking | Official visit. Met with Party Chairman Mao Zedong and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping | |
Jimmy Carter | June 25–29, 1979 | Japan | Tokyo, Shimoda |
State visit; met with Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira. Attended the 5th G7 summit. |
June 29 – July 1, 1979 | South Korea | Seoul | State visit. Met with President Park Chung-hee and Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah. | |
July 9–10, 1980 | Japan | Tokyo | Official visit; attended memorial services for former Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira; met with Emperor Hirohito, President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser of Australia, Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda of Thailand, and Premier Hua Guofeng of China. | |
Ronald Reagan | November 9–12, 1983 | Japan | Tokyo | State visit; met with Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and addressed the National Diet. |
November 12–14, 1983 | South Korea | Seoul, Demilitarized Zone |
State visit. Met with President Chun Doo-hwan. Addressed the National Assembly and visited U.S. troops. | |
April 26 – May 1, 1984 | China | Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai |
State visit. Met with President Li Xiannian and Premier Zhao Ziyang. | |
May 2–7, 1986 | Japan | Tokyo | Attended the 12th G7 summit. | |
George H. W. Bush | February 23–25, 1989 | Japan | Tokyo | Attended the funeral of Emperor Hirohito. Met with Emperor Akihito, the kings of Belgium, Jordan and Spain, the presidents of Brazil, Egypt, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, the Philippines, Portugal and Zaire, and the prime ministers of Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey. |
February 25–27, 1989 | China | Beijing | Met with President Yang Shangkun and Premier Li Peng. Also met with Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. | |
February 27, 1989 | South Korea | Seoul | Official visit. Addressed the National Assembly. | |
January 5–7, 1992 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Roh Tae-woo and senior Korean officials. Also signed a science and technology agreement, addressed the National Assembly, and visited U.S. military personnel. | |
January 7–10, 1992 | Japan | Kyoto, Kashihara, Tokyo |
Met with Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and senior Japanese officials. | |
Bill Clinton | July 6–10, 1993 | Japan | Tokyo | Attended the 19th G7 summit. Met with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. |
July 10–11, 1993 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Kim Young-sam. Addressed the National Assembly. Visited U.S. military personnel. | |
April 15–16, 1996 | Cheju Island | Met with President Kim Young-sam. Proposed four-nation peace talks. | ||
April 16–18, 1996 | Japan | Tokyo | State visit. Issued joint statement on U.S.-Japanese security relations. Addressed the Diet and U.S. Navy personnel. | |
June 24 – July 3, 1998 | China | Xi'an, Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, Hong Kong |
State visit. Met with President Jiang Zemin. Visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. Delivered a speech at Peking University. | |
November 19–20, 1998 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. Addressed American Chamber of Commerce. | |
November 20–22, 1998 | South Korea | Seoul, Osan |
Met with President Kim Dae-jung. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
June 8, 2000 | Japan | Tokyo | Attended the funeral of former Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. | |
July 21–23, 2000 | Nago | Attended the 26th G8 summit. | ||
George W. Bush | October 18–21, 2001 | China | Shanghai | Attended the APEC Summit. |
February 16–19, 2002 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Addressed the Diet. | |
February 19–21, 2002 | South Korea | Seoul, Dorasan, Osan |
Met with President Kim Dae-jung. Visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
February 21–22, 2002 | China | Beijing | Met with President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji. | |
October 17–18, 2003 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. | |
November 15–16, 2005 | Kyoto | Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi | ||
November 16–20, 2005 | South Korea | Pusan, Gyeongju, Osan |
Attended the APEC Summit. Met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
November 20–21, 2005 | China | Beijing | Met with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. | |
November 21, 2005 | Mongolia | Ulaanbaatar | Met with President Nambaryn Enkhbayar and Prime Minister Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. | |
July 6–9, 2008 | Japan | Tōyako | Attended the 34th G8 summit. Met with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese President Hu Jintao and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. | |
August 5–6, 2008 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
August 7–11, 2008 | China | Beijing | Attended the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics. Met with President Hu Jintao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. | |
Barack Obama | November 13–14, 2009 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. |
November 15–18, 2009 | China | Shanghai, Beijing |
Met with Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng and Mayor Han Zheng; also took part in a town hall meeting with Shanghai students. Met with President Hu Jintao, NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao. Visited the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. | |
November 18–19, 2009 | South Korea | Seoul, Osan | Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Visited with U.S. troops at Osan Air Base. | |
November 10–12, 2010 | South Korea | Seoul | Attended the G-20 Summit. Met with President Lee Myung-bak. | |
November 12–14, 2010 | Japan | Yokohama, Kamakura | Attended the APEC Summit. Met with Prime Minister Naoto Kan. | |
March 25–27, 2012 | South Korea | Seoul | Attended the Nuclear Security Summit. Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone. | |
April 23–25, 2014 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. | |
April 25–26, 2014 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Park Geun-hye. Visited with U.S. troops at Yongsan Garrison. | |
November 10–12, 2014 | China | Beijing | Attended the APEC Summit. Met with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and NPC Chairman Zhang Dejiang. | |
May 25–27, 2016 | Japan | Shima, Hiroshima |
Attended the 42nd G7 summit. Visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. | |
September 3–6, 2016 | China | Hangzhou | Attended the G-20 Summit. | |
Donald Trump | November 5–7, 2017 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. |
November 7–8, 2017 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Moon Jae-in. Addressed the National Assembly. | |
November 8–10, 2017 | China | Beijing | Met with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. | |
May 25–28, 2019 | Japan | Tokyo | State visit. Met with Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. | |
June 27–29, 2019 | Japan | Osaka | Attended the G-20 Summit. | |
June 29–30, 2019 | South Korea | Seoul, Korean Demilitarized Zone |
Met with President Moon Jae-in. Visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Attended the Koreas–United States DMZ Summit with President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Inter-Korean Freedom House on the southern side of the Joint Security Area of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Visited U.S. troops at Osan Air Base. | |
June 30, 2019 | North Korea | Joint Security Area | Briefly walked into the northern side of the Joint Security Area of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, accompanied by North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to enter North Korea. | |
Joe Biden | May 20–22, 2022 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Yoon Suk-yeol. Visited with U.S. troops at Yongsan Garrison. |
May 22–24, 2022 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Attended the QUAD Leaders Summit with Prime Minister Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. | |
May 18–21, 2023 | Japan | Hiroshima | Attended the 49th G7 summit. |
Gallery
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower with Republic of China President Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang Kai-shek in Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China), June 18, 1960
- President Richard Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing, China, February 25, 1972
- President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan with Emperor Hirohito in Tokyo, Japan, November 9, 1983
- President Donald Trump with Chairman Kim Jong-un and President Moon Jae-in in Korean Demilitarized Zone, June 30, 2019
Visits by former presidents
- Ulysses S. Grant visited Hong Kong, Canton (now Guangzhou), Shanghai, and Peking where he spoke with the head of government, Prince Gong, and Li Hongzhang, Viceroy of Zhili, in 1878, during a world tour after leaving office. He subsequently visited Japan, before returning to the U.S.
- Richard Nixon visited China at the personal invitation of Mao Zedong in February 1976. He visited again in mid–1979, and had a private meeting with Deng Xiaoping in Beijing.
- Jimmy Carter travelled to China, along with Carter Center personnel, for meetings with government and other officials on several occasions: July 1997, September 2003, December 2007, and January 2009. Additionally, Carter has visited North Korea twice: in June 1994 he meet with Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang to persuade Kim to negotiate with the Clinton Administration over its nuclear program; and, in August 2010 he met with Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang to secure the release of Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an American teacher who was imprisoned in North Korea for entering that country without a travel visa. Carter returned to the United States with Gomes.
- Bill Clinton travelled to North Korea in August 2009 to secure the release of two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were imprisoned for illegally entering North Korea. He met with Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, and returned to the United States with the journalists.
See also
- Foreign policy of the United States
- United States–South Korea free trade agreement
- Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan
- One-China policy
Notes
- This is when the United States government recognized the Republic of China as the only legal regime of "China" as president Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Taiwan in 1960. However, Richard Nixon visited the People's Republic of China on mainland China in 1972 and Gerald Ford in 1975 while maintaining relations with the ROC. 11 other visits to mainland China continued on from 1979 onwards following recognition of the PRC.
References
- Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
- Travels of President Lyndon B. Johnson U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian WebCitation archive
- "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- "The President's Trip to China, Burma and Australia". White House Office. November 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-11-08. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
- Brands, H. W. (2012). The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses S. Grant in War and Peace. Doubleday. pp. 591–592. ISBN 978-0385532419.
- Black, Conrad (2007). Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full. New York: Public Affairs Books. p. 1005. ISBN 978-1-58648-519-1.
- Ambrose, Stephen E. (1991). Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 524–525. ISBN 978-0-671-69188-2.
- "Visit to China". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- "President Carter's Japan and China Trip Report". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- "Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to China, Dec. 2-8, 2007". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- "China Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: Jan. 10-16, 2009". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- Blakemore, Erin (September 1, 2018). "Bill Clinton Once Struck a Nuclear Deal With North Korea". history.com. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- McCurry, Justin (August 27, 2010). "North Korea releases US prisoner after talks with Jimmy Carter". The Guardian. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- "The story behind Clinton's trip to North Korea". CNN. August 5, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
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