Call Later Than Japan... Blue House Says "Who Called First Is Not Important"

President Moon-Biden President-elect 9 PM Call
Biden-Suga of Japan, 30 Minutes Earlier Call

President Moon Jae-in is having his first phone call with President-elect Joe Biden of the United States on the morning of the 12th.

Regarding the criticism that the first phone call between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Joe Biden of the United States took place later than that with Japan, a senior Blue House official said on the 12th, "Calls between heads of state are made at a comfortable time based on mutual coordination, and who calls first is not considered important."

On that day, President Moon had his first phone call with President-elect Biden for 15 minutes starting at 9 a.m. Meanwhile, from 8:30 a.m., 30 minutes earlier, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan and President-elect Biden spoke for about 10 minutes.

A senior Blue House official said, "It was our side that proposed having the call between President Moon and President-elect Biden at 9 a.m.," adding, "The call time reflected our position." He added, "We set the call time at 9 a.m. first, and after that, the U.S.-Japan leaders' call also took place."

He emphasized again, "We initially considered a 10 a.m. call, but there was an opinion that around 9 a.m., the most comfortable time and the start of the workday, would be better. President-elect Biden's side agreed with our decision, so the phone call was made at 9 a.m."

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