“Discussing additional measures to put pressure on Russia”
Park Jin urges China to play a better role
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said on the 9th, “We are not only seeing North Korea providing military equipment to Russia, but we are also seeing Russia providing technical support for North Korea’s military programs.” He made this statement during his first visit to Korea since the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol government. While North Korea announced the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite, it mentioned the possibility that Russia may have begun providing military technology support to North Korea, including reconnaissance satellites. On this day, the Korean and U.S. foreign ministers also discussed additional joint response measures targeting Russia.
Secretary Blinken said at a joint press conference after meeting with Foreign Minister Park Jin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul that day that North Korea-Russia cooperation is a “two-way relationship.” He emphasized that he was “watching very, very closely, very, very carefully,” especially targeting Russia’s support for North Korea. He also said, “I have real concerns about any support for North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear technology and space launch technology.” So far, many circumstances have been discovered, such as North Korea’s weapons support to Russia, but Russia’s military technology support to North Korea was only mentioned as a possibility by the South Korean and U.S. authorities. Accordingly, there was speculation that Secretary Blinken’s remarks were because the United States had detected new circumstances related to Russia’s support for North Korea.
Secretary Blinken also said, “We discussed additional steps we could take to put pressure on Russia to ensure that it does not transfer military technology to North Korea in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.” This suggests the possibility that the international community will impose additional sanctions against Russia in the future, centered on Korea-U.S., Korea-U.S.-Japan, etc. In response to North Korea-Russia military cooperation, our government initiated independent sanctions against North Korea in September, but has not yet imposed independent sanctions against Russia.
The two ministers also urged China to play a “constructive role” in preventing North Korea-Russia military cooperation. Minister Park pointed out, “I don’t think China is in a position to like North Korea-Russia growing closer and military cooperation taking place.” Secretary Blinken also said, “We expect China to use its influence to play a constructive role in forcing North Korea to move away from its irresponsible and dangerous actions.”
Minister Blinken said this time that South Korea and the United States “discussed a shared strategic approach” toward China, and that issues such as the South China Sea, East China Sea, and Taiwan Strait were mentioned. While the US-China summit is expected to be held at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held from the 11th to the 17th, issues related to sensitive regions where military tensions between the US and China continue are discussed. The two ministers also expressed concern about China’s recent move to forcibly repatriate North Korean defectors.
Prior to this day, Secretary Blinken also had lunch with President Yoon Seok-yeol. President Yoon emphasized, “We are at a time when American leadership is becoming more important due to political instability in the Middle East, along with North Korea, the North Korean nuclear issue, and the war in Ukraine.” Secretary Blinken said, “The focus of U.S. foreign policy is on the Indo-Pacific region,” and added, “I pay tribute to President Yoon’s leadership, which has led to new progress in Korea-Japan relations and Korea-US-Japan relations.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.