WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday said he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain “deeply concerned” about situation with North Korea, and announced he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Moon, meanwhile, welcomed “America's return” to the world stage and said both leaders pledged to work closely toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Biden said he was dispatching career diplomat Sung Kim, who previously served as ambassador to South Korea, to serve as the special envoy to region.

Moon said the move by Biden “reflects the firm commitment of the U.S. for exploring diplomacy and its readiness for dialogue with North Korea.”

Moon came to Washington seeking renewed diplomatic urgency by the U.S. on curbing North Korea's nuclear program, even as the White House signaled that it is taking a longer view on the issue. High on Biden's list for the meeting as well: coordination in vaccine distribution, climate change and regional security concerns spurred by China.

Their meeting was only Biden's second in-person session with a foreign leader because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Their formal talks in the afternoon ran long, Biden said, noting his staff interrupted repeatedly to warn they were over time. “But I enjoyed the meeting so much that it caused us to move everything back,” Biden said, as he highlighted the two countries' “long history of shared sacrifice.”

Moon said, “The world is welcoming America's return,” an oblique reference to former President Donald Trump's attempts to disengage on some aspects of American diplomacy.

The White House announced last month that it had completed a review of North Korea policy, and Biden would veer from the strategies of his two most recent predecessors, rejecting both Trump's deeply personal effort to win over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Barack Obama's more hands-off approach.

But the administration has yet to detail what its third-way effort to try to prod the North to abandon its nuclear program will look like.

Moon started his day at the White House complex by meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top Biden advisers. Moon also participated in a Medal of Honor ceremony for Ralph Puckett, a 94-year-old Army veteran who was celebrated for his gallantry during the Korean War more than 70 years ago.