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Antony Blinken talks to Japanese and South Korean counterparts ahead of China trip
- The US Secretary of State reassured South Korea on Friday - and Japan on Saturday - of the United States’ ‘ironclad commitment’ to the countries’ defence
- Blinken will visit China on Sunday and Monday in the first trip by a top US diplomat in nearly five years
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately to his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, emphasising the importance of “sustained … trilateral cooperation” ahead of his visit to China, the State Department said on Saturday.
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The conversations also come as North Korea has stepped up missile launches in the past year, and Tokyo contends with growing pressure from Chinese vessels around islands contested with Beijing.
Blinken on Friday reassured Foreign Minister Park Jin of the United States’ “ironclad commitment” to South Korea’s defence, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement on Saturday.
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Antony Blinken to visit China after calling off last meeting over ‘spy balloon’ incident
Antony Blinken to visit China after calling off last meeting over ‘spy balloon’ incident
“The secretary and the foreign minister condemned the DPRK’s continued unlawful ballistic missile launches and noted the need for the PRC to use its influence to encourage Pyongyang to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy,” he said, using acronyms for North Korea and China’s official names.
Blinken repeated the “ironclad commitment” to defence to Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa on Saturday, and “condemned the DPRK’s continued unlawful ballistic missile launches into the Sea of Japan.”
The three countries issued a joint statement on Thursday to “condemn” North Korea’s launch of two short-range ballistic missiles, just after Pyongyang warned of an “inevitable” response to continuing US-South Korea joint military drills.
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Last year, Tokyo unveiled a major defence overhaul, pledging to boost security spending to two per cent of GDP by 2027 and calling China the “greatest strategic challenge ever” for Japan.
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