U.S. President Joe Biden said he is considering a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. 

Biden made the remarks to reporters on Thursday during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House when asked about the possibility of the boycott, saying that it's "something we're considering."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki also said on Thursday in a press briefing that the consideration is due to concerns about the human rights abuses of the Uyghur ethnic group in Xinjiang.

Psaki said that the U.S. has serious concerns about the abuses that it has seen. However, she added that the matter was not discussed during last week's summit talks between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.   

A diplomatic boycott means the U.S. would not send an official government delegation to the Games but would still allow U.S. athletes to compete.

If the U.S. actually decides to boycott, it would likely strike a blow to South Korea's pushes for the declaration of a formal end to the Korean War as well as its plan to improve ties between the two Koreas and between North Korea and the U.S. through the Olympics.