WASHINGTON, Apr. 3 (Yonhap) – President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will discuss an array of issues, including North Korean threats and the two countries' trilateral cooperation with South Korea, during their summit next week, a White House official said Wednesday.

The two leaders are set to hold the summit on April 10 as Washington and Tokyo are stepping up defense cooperation amid growing security uncertainties stemming from North Korea's evolving military threats, China's growing assertiveness and Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine.

"The president is very much looking forward to the state visit. There is an awful lot of important things to talk about," National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told a virtual press briefing.

"There will be issues in terms of the security environment -- concerns about the DPRK, concerns about aggressive PRC actions," he added.

DPRK and PRC stand for the official names of North Korea and China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China, respectively.

Kirby also said that the two leaders will discuss how the two countries can advance their bilateral cooperation as well as their trilateral cooperation with South Korea.

Speaking in a forum, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said that there will be a summit announcement on collaboration between the U.S. and Japan over joint development and production of military equipment.

"One of things that I think you will see next week are steps for the first time that will allow the U.S. and Japan to work more collaboratively on joint development and potentially co-production of vital military and defense equipment," he said at the forum hosted by the Center for a New American Security.

Campbell cast Kishida's upcoming visit as a "seminal and historical," saying that Washington and Tokyo seek to "modernize and update the critical and dynamic U.S.-Japan partnership."

Kishida's upcoming trip to Washington will mark the first official visit by a Japanese prime minister since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit in 2015.

Kishida's official visit is regarded as the same as a state visit, the highest diplomatic reception given to a visiting foreign leader. The expression, state visit, is usually used for a visit by a foreign president or head of state.

Photo from Yonhap