US and South Korea close ranks on common global issues

Blinken meeting addresses China, N. Korea, Russia

SEOUL, South Korea — The United States and South Korea closed ranks behind common approaches to North Korea, Russia, and China on Thursday, vowing to continue to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and boosting humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza caught in Israel’s war against Hamas.

In talks with South Korea’s leadership, including President Yoon Suk Yeol, Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the growing threat posed by North Korea and its alleged provision of military equipment and munitions to Russia to help it wage war on Ukraine, the State Department said. They also spoke of the importance of US-South Korea cooperation on global challenges, including China’s assertiveness and the instability in the Middle East.

“They shared concerns about the DPRK’s provocations in the region and strongly condemned the provision of military equipment and munitions by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the Russian Federation for use in its war against Ukraine,” the State Department said of Blinken’s meeting with Yoon, referring to North Korea by its formal name. The Blinken-Yoon meeting also covered improving relations between South Korea and Japan as well as the importance of three-way cooperation between Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul, the State Department said.

At a news conference later with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, Blinken said they discussed unspecified further actions the countries could take to intensify pressure on Moscow not to transfer military technology to North Korea in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

North Korea has been supplying artillery shells and other munitions to Russia in recent months to fuel its war efforts in Ukraine, US and South Korean officials have said, and they suspect that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could be seeking Russian technologies and other assistance in return to upgrade his own military.

“We’re seeing a two-way street. We’re seeing the DPRK provide military equipment to Russia for its brutal aggression against Ukraine but we’re also seeing Russia provide technological support to the DPRK for its own military programs and that’s a real concern for the security of Korea,” Blinken said.

Blinken also criticized North Korea’s ramped-up missile testing activity in recent months, which included events it characterized as simulated attacks on South Korea involving tactical nuclear weapons, saying the North is “increasingly engaged in threatening irresponsible rhetoric.”

Both diplomats urged China — North Korea’s main ally and economic lifeline — to take a greater role in pulling the North back from destabilizing behavior, with Park arguing that the potential arms alignment between Russia and North Korea would go against Beijing’s interests.