Seoul – North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile on Monday as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea, where he warned that Pyongyang was working closer with Russia on advanced space technology. Blinken also said that although he believed that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would end the war in Gazait probably won't happen until after President Biden's term, under Returning President Donald Trump.
Blinken visited Seoul as investigators trying to arrest Conservative President Yoon Suk Yeolwho has established himself in his residence after being dismissed for failure attempt to impose martial lawbut he refused to wade into the domestic political turmoil that has gripped the US's close friendship.
As a reminder of common challenges that go beyond Southern politics, North Korea On Monday he fired a ballistic missile into the sea while Blinken was holding meetings in Seoul, pushing him to harm Pyongyang and its ally Russia.
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Both Blinken and his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, condemned the announcement at a press conference, with Washington's top diplomat calling it “another violation of several UN Security Council resolutions”.
Blinken says Russia could provide the North with “advanced” space technology
The outgoing diplomat also took aim at Russia, saying Moscow was expanding space cooperation with Pyongyang.
“The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang,” he told the – press conference.
His warning lifted concerns first raised by officials more than a year agobefore North Korea began providing weapons and, later, even troops, to help Vladimir Putin's ongoing war effort in Ukraine.
Since then, the US and South Korea say Kim Jong Un has sent at least 10,000 North Korean troops to help support Putin's forceswhich has been stretched thin after nearly three years of intense fighting in eastern Ukraine and, more recently, in the Russian border region of Kursk, which Ukrainian forces attacked late last year
After the North Korean missile flew about 680 miles before crashing into the sea on Monday, Seoul said it had “strengthened surveillance and monitoring” for more launches. Seoul was also “in close coordination with the US and Japan” on the launch, the South's military said.
Ties between the US and South Korea strain amid changing leadership
The test comes two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who in his last term tried to bring a special brand of personal diplomacy to North Korea.
Blinken reiterated Washington's “ironclad commitment” to defending South Korea and spoke with Vice Prime Minister and Acting President Choi Sang-mok about “how the two sides will work together to achieve greater co- strengthen bilateral cooperation and trilateral cooperation with Japan,” the State Department said. said.
Until he briefly imposed martial law on December 3, Yoon had been a darling of President Joe Biden's administration for his pro-US policies on the world stage. He pleased the United States by trying to turn the page on decades of oppression with Japan, an American ally that is also home to thousands of US troops.
Yoon joined Biden and then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2023 for a three-way summit at the presidential retreat Camp David that included a pledge to strengthen intelligence cooperation on North Korea . Choi's office said in a statement that South Korea remained committed to the “principles and agreements from the Camp David summit”.
The acting president said that “South Korea will continue to maintain its diplomatic and security policies based on the strong Korea-US alliance and trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan.” “
Historically, South Korea's progressive opposition, which has made Yoon's life miserable from parliament and has been growing louder since the president took power, has taken a harder line on Japan.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung – who himself faces electoral disqualification in a court case – also favors greater diplomatic outreach with North Korea than the hawkish Yoon.
The turmoil and lack of a clear leader in Asia's fourth largest economy comes just as the US is in the midst of its own political transition.
While Mr Biden has focused on nurturing US alliances, Trump, who will take over on January 20, has denied what he sees as unfair commitments by Washington . Trump said during his last presidential race that if he was in power he would have heavily armed South Korea to pay $10 billion a year for the presence of US troops, nearly 10 as much as he contributes now.
But paradoxically, Trump forged a bond with South Korea's last progressive president, Moon Jae-in, who encouraged his efforts to make deals with North Korea.
Trump, who once threatened “fire and fury” against North Korea, went on to meet three times with leader Kim Jong Un and said they “fell in love”.
Blinken says an Israel-Hamas truce may not happen under Biden
Blinken expressed confidence Monday that a cease-fire agreement in Gaza would come together, but perhaps after President Joe Biden leaves office on January 20. work every minute of every day” until the end of his term to secure a hostile release agreement.
“We really want to get this over the finish line in the next two weeks,” Blinken told reporters in Seoul. “If we don't get over the finish line in the next two weeks, I'm sure it will be ready at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. When it does, it will be based on the plan which President Biden put forward and which almost the whole world supports.”
Trump has promised even stronger support for Israel and has warned Hamas of “hell to pay” if it does not release around 100 hostages believed to be still being held in Gaza for more than a year after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. Israeli officials estimate that about two-thirds of the remaining guards are still alive.
A Hamas official said on Sunday the group was ready to free 34 hostages in the “first phase” of a possible deal with Israel, which it said had resumed indirect talks. the Qatar.
Blinken said there had been “intensified engagement” with Hamas when it came to an agreement, but it was not yet complete.
“We need Hamas to make the necessary final decisions to complete the agreement and make a fundamental change in the situation of the hostages, getting them out, for the people in Gaza, giving them relief, and for the area as a whole, creating a real opportunity. move on to something better,” Blinken said.
Blinken has made 12 visits to the Middle East since the massive October 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel, which saw the group kill around 1,200 people and take 251 others hostage.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by immediately launching an unrelenting military campaign in Gaza, which health officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory say has killed more than 45,000 people, eliminating the entire infrastructure of the enclave and forced almost all residents from their homes.
