Top US diplomat holds talks in South Korea, with Mideast, Ukraine, North Korea on agenda

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday held talks with officials in South Korea, where he also condemned North Korea for alleged supply of arms to Russia.

Blinken flew to Seoul on Wednesday after attending the Group of Seven meeting in Japan.

Ahead of his meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, Blinken also called on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a luncheon meeting, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

The US “leadership is becoming increasingly important due to instability in the Middle East, together with the issue of North Korea and its nuclear program, and the war in Ukraine,” Yoon told Washington’s top diplomat.

“As an ally of the United States, South Korea will work closely with the United States to defend core values and strengthen the rules-based international order,” he said, stressing what he called “global comprehensive strategic alliance” two allies have “firmly established.”

Earlier on Thursday, Blinken met South Korea’s National Security Advisor Cho Tae-yong in Seoul.

According to US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Blinken and Cho discussed the importance of US-South Korean cooperation to address global challenges, including instability in the Middle East.

The two sides discussed North Korea’s “provocative actions in the Korean Peninsula,” he added.

Miller also said Blinken and Cho “strongly condemned the provision of military equipment and munitions” allegedly by Pyongyang to Russia “for use in its war against Ukraine.”

Reaffirming Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to the defense of South Korea, Blinken “stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine and thanked” Seoul for its “commitment to providing assistance to Ukraine.”

Under a bilateral defense treaty, South Korea hosts around 28,500 US troops in the country since 1953.