Obama to discuss North Korea with China's president, other leaders at nuclear security summit

President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinxing at a climate summit in France

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 31 March 2016

Starting Thursday, President Obama is hosting a two-day nuclear security summit in Washington, and Thursday morning he will gather with the leaders of Japan and South Korea to discuss their shared concern over North Korea's nuclear program. Later Thursday Obama will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for one-on-one talks on North Korea and rising tensions in the South China Sea. The U.S. also plans to bring up China's human rights record. Obama will also huddle Thursday with French President Francois Hollande, before Friday's session, focused on the nuclear threat from the Islamic State and other extremists.

The White House is warning participants that there are 2,000 metric tons of civilian and military enriched uranium and separated plutonium around the world, and some of that could be turned into a nuclear weapon or crude dirty bomb. Obama has made a push in his presidency to get countries to secure their nuclear materials, but so far fewer than half of the countries at the summit have agreed to do so.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.