North Korea test fires missile as Blinken visits Seoul, weighs in on Putin-Kim ties, Israel-Hamas truce talks
Seoul — North Korea tested a ballistic missile on Monday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea and warned that Pyongyang was cooperating more closely with Russia on advanced space technology. Blinken also said that while he believed the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would end Gaza warwhich may not happen until after Biden’s presidential term ends, according to President-elect Donald Trump returns.
Investigators on Blinken visit to Seoul Attempts to arrest conservative President Yoon Seok-yeolHe holds on to his residence after impeachment failed attempt to impose martial lawBut he has refused to get involved in the domestic political turmoil plaguing this close U.S. ally.
To serve as a reminder of the common challenges that transcend Southern politics, north korea Blinken launched a ballistic missile into the sea during a meeting in Seoul on Monday, forcing him to denounce Pyongyang and its ally Russia.
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Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol condemned the launch at a joint news conference, with Washington’s top diplomat calling it “another violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
Blinken says Russia could provide North Korea with ‘advanced’ space technology
The outgoing diplomat also took aim at Russia, saying Moscow was expanding space cooperation with Pyongyang.
“North Korea is already receiving military equipment and training from Russia. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang,” he told a news conference.
His warning resonated Officials first expressed concerns more than a year agoThat was before North Korea began supplying weapons, and even later troops, to aid Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war effort in Ukraine.
The United States and South Korea have since said Kim Jong Un has sent at least 10,000 troops North Korean soldiers help shore up Putin’s troopsThey are already stretched thin after nearly three years of fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine and, most recently, in the Kursk region on the Russian border, which Ukrainian forces invaded late last year.
North Korea’s missile flew about 680 miles before falling into the sea on Monday, and Seoul said it had “stepped up surveillance and vigilance” for more launches. Seoul also “coordinated closely with the United States and Japan” on the launch, the South Korean military added.
U.S., South Korea emphasize ties amid leadership change
The test comes two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who spent his last term trying to woo North Korea through a unique campaign of personal diplomacy.
Blinken reaffirmed Washington’s “firm commitment” to defending South Korea and discussed with Vice Prime Minister and Acting President Choi Sang-mok “how both sides will work together to further strengthen bilateral and trilateral cooperation with Japan,” the State Department statement said.
Before the brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon had been a favorite of President Joe Biden’s administration for his pro-U.S. policies on the global stage. He has tried to end decades of friction with Japan, much to the delight of the United States. Japan is a U.S. ally and home to thousands of U.S. troops.
In 2023, Yoon held a landmark trilateral summit with Biden and Japan’s then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential resort, which included a pledge to strengthen intelligence cooperation against North Korea. Choi Soon-sil’s office said in a statement that South Korea remained committed to “the principles and agreements of the Camp David Summit.”
The acting president “expressed that South Korea will continue to maintain its foreign and security policies based on the strong South Korea-US alliance and trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States, and Japan.”
South Korea’s progressive opposition has historically taken a tougher stance against Japan, making Yoon’s life in Congress miserable, and has grown in prominence since the president took power.
Opposition leader Ri Jae-myung, who himself faces electoral disqualification in a court case, also favors more diplomatic engagement with North Korea than hawkish Yoon Eun-hye.
The turmoil and lack of clear leadership in Asia’s fourth-largest economy comes at a time when the United States is in the midst of a political transition.
While Biden has focused on nurturing U.S. alliances, Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, has been dismissive of promises he sees as unfair in Washington. Trump said during his most recent presidential campaign that if he took power he would force South Korea to pay $10 billion a year for its troops, nearly 10 times what it pays now.
But paradoxically, Trump developed a bond with South Korea’s last progressive president, Moon Jae-in, who encouraged him to try to reach a deal with North Korea.
Trump, who had threatened “fire and fury” against North Korea, subsequently met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times and said they “fell in love.”
Blinken says there may not be a truce between Israel and Hamas under Biden
Blinken expressed confidence on Monday that a ceasefire in Gaza would be reached, but probably not until President Joe Biden leaves office on January 20. Blinken, who repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to broker a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel last year, said the Biden administration would “work every minute of every day” until the end of its term to secure a hostage release deal.
“We very much hope to get this done in the next two weeks,” Blinken told reporters in Seoul. “If we don’t get across the finish line in the next two weeks, I believe it will be done at some point. , hopefully sooner rather than later, and when it’s done, it will be based on the plan that President Biden has put forward and that almost the world supports.”
Trump vowed to provide stronger support to Israel and warned Hamas if it did not release about 100 people believed to be still being held in Gaza more than a year after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack. The hostages will “pay a heavy price.” Israeli officials believe about two-thirds of the remaining hostages are still alive.
A Hamas official said on Sunday the group was ready to release 34 hostages in the “first phase” of a potential deal with Israel, which said indirect talks had resumed in Qatar.
Blinken said Hamas had “increased engagement” in reaching a deal but it was not yet complete.
“We need Hamas to make the final decisions necessary to complete the deal and fundamentally change the situation of the hostages, free them, bring relief to the people of Gaza, and create opportunities for the entire region to move toward a better future. direction,” Blinken said.
Blinken has visited the Middle East 12 times since Hamas launched a massive attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, in which the group killed about 1,200 people and captured another 251.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by immediately launching a ruthless military campaign in Gaza, which health officials in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory say has killed more than 45,000 people and destroyed all of the enclave. infrastructure and forced nearly all residents to leave their homes.
