FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and Beijing, China, the week of November 4 as part of his ongoing commitment to supporting frontline efforts and strengthening interagency partnerships around the world. Following President Donald J. Trump’s visit to the region the prior week, Director Patel focused on engaging in conversations about tangible ways the FBI can continue to work even more collaboratively with law enforcement and intelligence partners in the region.
During the visit to Tokyo, Director Patel, alongside U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass, met with Japan’s National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoshinobu Kusunoki to discuss ways to strengthen law enforcement partnerships and identify areas for future collaboration in critical areas like cybercrime and transnational organized crime. Director Patel also extended additional opportunities for training at FBI facilities in Huntsville and Quantico to continue sharing information and expertise with this key partner agency.
During the visit to Seoul, Director Patel met with the Vice Commissioner General of Investigation of the Korean National Police Agency Sung-Ju Park to reaffirm the important partnership between the FBI and the KNPA. Director Patel and the vice commissioner discussed mutual cooperation priorities to include defeating cyberactors and combating the proliferation of scam centers in the region.
During the visit to Beijing, Director Patel met Vice Minister of Public Security Xu Datong to discuss law enforcement issues and follow up on key outcomes of the meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping in Busan, Republic of Korea, on October 30.
In his meeting with Vice Minister Xu, Director Patel discussed the implementation of China’s commitment to take concrete actions that will save American lives by stopping the flow of dangerous chemicals fueling the fentanyl crisis. Director Patel also discussed expanding several areas of law enforcement cooperation, including targeting criminals who have stolen billions from both Chinese and American victims through cyberscams and telephone fraud, combating online crimes against children, countering international money laundering, and ensuring violent criminals face justice. Director Patel is the first FBI Director to visit China since 2016.
Throughout the duration of the visit, Director Patel also met with FBI, U.S. military service members, and U.S. embassy personnel, receiving briefings on the respective AORs and hearing about their impactful work in the region.
