SEOUL: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit South Korea next week for “wide-ranging” discussions on issues including nuclear-armed North Korea, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Wednesday (Nov 1).
Blinken will arrive in Seoul next Wednesday for a two-day trip, marking his first visit to the country since March 2021.
The top US diplomat will meet with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin for “wide-ranging discussions on the alliance, North Korea issues, economic security and advanced technology, as well as regional and global situations”, the ministry said in a statement.
“Secretary Blinken’s visit is expected to provide an important opportunity to further develop the South Korea-US alliance,” it added.
The visit comes as Seoul and Washington ramp up defence cooperation in the face of a record-breaking series of weapons tests by Pyongyang this year.
Last month, a US nuclear-weapons-capable B-52 bomber made a rare landing in South Korea, less than a week after a South Korean port visit by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
Source: CNA
