Blinken Pushes for U.S.-South Korea Alliance to Counter North Korea-Russia Links

There is an anticipation of increased U.S.-South Korea collaboration to halt military cooperation and arms trade between North Korea and Russia. During his visit to South Korea on the 9th, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the North Korea-Russia cooperation as a “bilateral relationship” and stated that “We will continue to work with South Korea and other like-minded countries to detect and respond to Russia’s attempts to acquire military equipment from North Korea.”

At a joint press conference following the U.S.-South Korea foreign ministers’ meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul that afternoon, Secretary Blinken said, “Not only is North Korea providing military equipment to Russia, but we are also seeing Russia providing technical support for North Korea’s military program.”

This is the U.S. Secretary of State’s first visit to South Korea in about two and a half years since the U.S.-South Korea diplomatic and defense (2+2) ministerial meeting on March 17, 2021. It is also the first visit by Secretary Blinken since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol government. After a meeting with President Yoon and Foreign Minister Park Jin that lasted over an hour, Secretary Blinken held a joint press conference. The issues discussed at this meeting will be addressed at the presidential level soon. From the 11th to the 17th, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit will be held in San Francisco, USA. At this event, U.S.-China, U.S.-South Korea, and South Korea-China summit meetings are expected to take place, and the response to North Korea-Russia military cooperation will likely be on the agenda.

Secretary Blinken expressed that such military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is “a matter of great concern to both of our countries” and also brought up the role of China. In the current situation where instability in Northeast Asia and threats from North Korea are escalating, China should exert its influence on North Korea. Secretary Blinken emphasized that “China must play a constructive role by exerting such influence to deter North Korea from irresponsible and dangerous behavior.” Minister Park said, “I don’t think China would be pleased about the close relations between North Korea and Russia and the arms trade and military cooperation taking place.”

Both the U.S. and South Korea reaffirmed their stance at the meeting that day to “continue to closely cooperate to strengthen the execution power of the U.S.’s ‘extended deterrence'” against North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and provocation threats. Secretary Blinken said, “North Korea’s missile launches and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction are dangerous. These are not only evasions of UN Security Council resolutions but also dangerous and undermine security.” Minister Park said, “The U.S. and South Korea will continue to race to make efforts to make North Korea abandon its nuclear and missile development,” and urged North Korea to stop all provocations, including the launch of artificial satellites.

By. Koo Chae Eun