President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol held his first phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday and reaffirmed the bilateral alliance and close coordination on North Korea between their two nations. They also promised to meet in person at an early date.

According to the People Power Party, Yoon received the call at his home at around 10 a.m. which lasted for 20 minutes. The call came five hours after Yoon delivered his victory speech.

Biden congratulated the president-elect on his win and expressed hope of expanding bilateral cooperation on various issues, including challenges posed by the pandemic and climate change.

Yoon thanked Biden for the greetings and expressed respect for U.S. leadership in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. He also emphasized the need for stronger cooperation between the allies over North Korea's recent provocations and called for closer interest from Biden in Korean Peninsula affairs.

Biden said the U.S. was keeping tabs on the situation in North Korea and underlined the importance of trilateral coordination also involving Japan.

He also asked Yoon to visit the White House once he takes office. Yoon thanked Biden for the invitation saying he also hopes to meet him soon.

Pundits speculate that a visit to Korea by Biden for summit talks with Yoon may occur as he is expected to visit Japan in late May for a summit meeting of the Quad security alliance.

The White House also confirmed the phone conversation in a press release saying President Biden and President-elect Yoon affirmed the strength of the alliance and committed to maintaining close coordination on addressing threats posed by North Korea.

The phone call was scheduled Friday but was pushed up at Washington's request.