Bipartisan Senate delegation to visit S. Korea, China, Japan this month

A bipartisan Senate delegation will travel to South Korea, China and Japan this month, in an East Asia swing aimed at advancing US economic and national security interests, Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer's office was quoted as saying Tuesday.

The six-senator group, including Schumer and Republican Mike Crapo, plans to make the trip, during which it will meet government and business leaders in each country, according to Reuters.

Schumer's office confirmed to Yonhap News Agency that the trip will take place, but other details were not immediately available.

In South Korea, the delegation is expected to discuss with Seoul officials a wide range of issues, including trilateral security cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo and evolving military threats from North Korea as well as economic security cooperation.

The delegation includes Sen. Jon Ossoff, a co-founder of the Senate Korea Caucus, his spokesperson confirmed. He is expected to urge closer defense and economic relations between Korea, the US and Japan.

In Beijing, the delegation reportedly hopes to meet President Xi Jinping.

The planned visit to China would come as Washington has been seeking engagement with Beijing through high-level visits to the Asian power under its drive to "de-risk" and "responsibility" manage the Sino-US relationship.

The US' outreach to China has been seen as an effort to ensure that Xi will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit slated to take place in San Francisco next month, setting the stage for a bilateral summit with US President Joe Biden. (Yonhap)