President Obama, center, arrives to lay a wreath at the National War Memorial in Seoul on April 25.(Photo: Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images)



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President Obama is paying a visit to South Korea as the nation continues to reel from last week's ferry disaster that left 300 people dead or missing, mostly high school students.


"When our friends are in trouble, America helps, and we'll continue to do everything we can to stand with our Korean friends at this difficult time," Obama said in an interview published Friday by the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo.


Later Friday, the president is expected to participate in a joint news conference with South Korean President Park Geun Hye.


Park has been consumed by the April 16 maritime disaster, which could color the economic and security agenda she had been expected to highlight for Obama.


Meanwhile, North Korea has threatened to conduct another nuclear test, and if that happens while Obama is still in the region tensions could be further heightened.


Contributing: Associated Press