# 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.
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.) |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | June 18–19, 1960 | Taiwan | Taipei | State visit. Met with President Chiang Kai-shek |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | 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. |
| Gerald Ford | November 22–23, 1974 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Park Chung-hee. |
| Gerald Ford | 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. |
| Jimmy Carter | June 29 – July 1, 1979 | South Korea | Seoul | State visit. Met with President Park Chung-hee and Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah. |
| Jimmy Carter | 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. |
| Ronald Reagan | 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. |
| Ronald Reagan | April 26 – May 1, 1984 | China | Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai | State visit. Met with President Li Xiannian and Premier Zhao Ziyang. |
| Ronald Reagan | 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. |
| George H. W. Bush | February 25–27, 1989 | China | Beijing | Met with President Yang Shangkun and Premier Li Peng. Also met with Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. |
| George H. W. Bush | February 27, 1989 | South Korea | Seoul | Official visit. Addressed the National Assembly. |
| George H. W. Bush | 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. |
| George H. W. Bush | 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. |
| Bill Clinton | July 10–11, 1993 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Kim Young-sam. Addressed the National Assembly. Visited U.S. military personnel. |
| Bill Clinton | April 15–16, 1996 | South Korea | Cheju Island | Met with President Kim Young-sam. Proposed four-nation peace talks. |
| Bill Clinton | 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. |
| Bill Clinton | 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. |
| Bill Clinton | November 19–20, 1998 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. Addressed American Chamber of Commerce. |
| Bill Clinton | November 20–22, 1998 | South Korea | Seoul, Osan | Met with President Kim Dae-jung. Addressed U.S. military personnel. |
| Bill Clinton | June 8, 2000 | Japan | Tokyo | Attended the funeral of former Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. |
| Bill Clinton | July 21–23, 2000 | Japan | Nago | Attended the 26th G8 summit. |
| George W. Bush | October 18–21, 2001 | China | Shanghai | Attended the APEC Summit. |
| George W. Bush | February 16–19, 2002 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Addressed the Diet. |
| George W. Bush | 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. |
| George W. Bush | February 21–22, 2002 | China | Beijing | Met with President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji. |
| George W. Bush | October 17–18, 2003 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. |
| George W. Bush | November 15–16, 2005 | Japan | Kyoto | Met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi |
| George W. Bush | November 16–20, 2005 | South Korea | Pusan, Gyeongju, Osan | Attended the APEC Summit. Met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Addressed U.S. military personnel. |
| George W. Bush | November 20–21, 2005 | China | Beijing | Met with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. |
| George W. Bush | November 21, 2005 | Mongolia | Ulaanbaatar | Met with President Nambaryn Enkhbayar and Prime Minister Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj. |
| George W. Bush | 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. |
| George W. Bush | August 5–6, 2008 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Addressed U.S. military personnel. |
| George W. Bush | 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. |
| Barack Obama | 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. |
| Barack Obama | November 18–19, 2009 | South Korea | Seoul, Osan | Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Visited with U.S. troops at Osan Air Base. |
| Barack Obama | November 10–12, 2010 | South Korea | Seoul | Attended the G-20 Summit. Met with President Lee Myung-bak. |
| Barack Obama | November 12–14, 2010 | Japan | Yokohama, Kamakura | Attended the APEC Summit. Met with Prime Minister Naoto Kan. |
| Barack Obama | March 25–27, 2012 | South Korea | Seoul | Attended the Nuclear Security Summit. Met with President Lee Myung-bak. Visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone. |
| Barack Obama | April 23–25, 2014 | Japan | Tokyo | Met with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. |
| Barack Obama | April 25–26, 2014 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Park Geun-hye. Visited with U.S. troops at Yongsan Garrison. |
| Barack Obama | November 10–12, 2014 | China | Beijing | Attended the APEC Summit. Met with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and NPC Chairman Zhang Dejiang. |
| Barack Obama | May 25–27, 2016 | Japan | Shima, Hiroshima | Attended the 42nd G7 summit. Visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. |
| Barack Obama | 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. |
| Donald Trump | November 7–8, 2017 | South Korea | Seoul | Met with President Moon Jae-in. Addressed the National Assembly. |
| Donald Trump | November 8–10, 2017 | China | Beijing | Met with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. |
| Donald Trump | May 25–28, 2019 | Japan | Tokyo | State visit. Met with Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. |
| Donald Trump | June 27–29, 2019 | Japan | Osaka | Attended the G-20 Summit. |
| Donald Trump | 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. |
| Donald Trump | 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. |
| Joe Biden | 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. |
| Joe Biden | 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.