United States presidential visits to East Asia

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.

An orthographic projection map featuring the countries of East Asia (highlighted in dark green)

To date, 23 visits have been made to Japan, 19 to South Korea, and 13 to China, and one each to Mongolia and Taiwan. Additionally, one incumbent president, Donald Trump, has briefly entered North Korea. He did so on June 30, 2019, via the Joint Security Area of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, accompanied by North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un.

Table of visit
President Dates Countries Locations Key details
Dwight D. Eisenhower[1] 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[2] 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[3] February 21–28, 1972  China Shanghai,
Peking,
Hangchow		 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[4] 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[5] 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,
Xian,
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[6] 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[7] 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[8] 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[9] 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.[10]
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.

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 the presidency. He subsequently visited Japan, before returning to the U.S.[11]
  • Richard Nixon visited China at the personal invitation of Mao Zedong in February 1976.[12] He visited again in mid–1979, and had a private meeting with Deng Xiaoping in Beijing.[13]
  • Jimmy Carter travelled to China, along with Carter Center personnel, for meetings with government and other officials on several occasions: July 1997,[14] September 2003,[15] December 2007,[16] and January 2009.[17] 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;[18] 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.[19]
  • 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.[20]

See also

References
  1. Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-04 at WebCite
  2. Travels of President Lyndon B. Johnson U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian WebCitation archive
  3. "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  4. "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  5. "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  6. "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  7. "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  8. "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  9. "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  10. "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.
  11. Brands, H. W. (2012). The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses S. Grant in War and Peace. Doubleday. pp. 591–592. ISBN 978-0385532419.
  12. Black, Conrad (2007). Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full. New York: Public Affairs Books. p. 1005. ISBN 978-1-58648-519-1.
  13. Ambrose, Stephen E. (1991). Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 524–525. ISBN 978-0-671-69188-2.
  14. "Visit to China". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  15. "President Carter's Japan and China Trip Report". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  16. "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.
  17. "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.
  18. 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.
  19. McCurry, Justin (August 27, 2010). "North Korea releases US prisoner after talks with Jimmy Carter". The Guardian. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  20. "The story behind Clinton's trip to North Korea". CNN. August 5, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
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