U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday in Japan for a summit of leaders from the Group of Seven nations that is expected to focus on countering China’s economic practices and supporting Ukraine in its battle against a Russian invasion.

Biden greeted a group of about 400 U.S. and Japanese troops at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni shortly after landing.

He was scheduled to meet later with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Hiroshima, the site of the G-7 talks.

The G-7 summit will also include leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Kishida also invited a group of nonmembers to take part in the summit as part of an effort to engage with the Global South. Those nations include Australia, Brazil, Comoros, Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Ukraine and Vietnam.

Leaders are expected to discuss China’s use of trade and investment restrictions, as well as boycotts and sanctions. Possible actions by the G-7 include export controls and restrictions on investments from those nations in China.

Japan, South Korea Aim to Strengthen Ties at G7

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a joint press conference after their meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, May 7, 2023.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — The top leaders of Japan and South Korea will try to maintain momentum toward improved relations when they meet on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit that begins Friday in Hiroshima.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday, the final day of the three-day gathering, according to South Korean officials.

South Korea is not a member of the G-7 group of advanced democracies but was invited by Kishida as an observer, along with the leaders of several other non-G-7 states.

It will be the third recent meeting between Yoon and Kishida, who are charging ahead with expanded security and economic cooperation despite domestic pushback in each country.

Japan-South Korea ties have long been strained by disagreements related to Japan’s brutal 1910-45 occupation of Korea.

The stakes are high. Strong ties between Japan and South Korea, both key U.S. allies, could reshape the security landscape in Northeast Asia at a time of rising concern over China’s more assertive behavior and North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal.