Seoul — North Korea tested a ballistic missile on Monday as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited South Korea, where he warned that Pyongyang was working increasingly closely with Russia on advanced space technology. Blinken also said that while he believes the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will end war in Gazathis can only happen after the end of President Biden's term, sub President-elect Donald Trump is back.
Blinken visited Seoul as investigators tries to arrest conservative President Yoon Suk-yeolwho established himself in his residence after his impeachment for failure attempt to impose martial lawbut he refused to intervene in the domestic political turmoil that engulfed the close US ally.
As a reminder of the common problems that go beyond the politics of the South, North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Monday as Blinken held meetings in Seoul, prompting him to rebuke Pyongyang and its ally Russia.
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Both Blinken and his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, condemned the launch at a joint press conference, with Washington's top diplomat calling it “yet another violation of numerous 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.
“North Korea is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technologies with Pyongyang,” he said at a press conference.
His warning echoed issues first voiced by officials more than a year agobefore North Korea began providing weapons and later even troops to help Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
Since then, the US and South Korea say Kim Jong Un has sent at least 10,000 North Korean soldiers will help strengthen Putin's forceswhich were stretched after almost three years of intense fighting in eastern Ukraine and, most recently, in the Kursk region bordering Russia, where Ukrainian troops invaded late last year.
After a North Korean missile flew about 680 miles before crashing into the sea on Monday, Seoul said it had “heightened surveillance and vigilance” for new launches. Seoul is also “in close coordination with the US and Japan” about the launch, the South's military added.
US and South Korea stress ties amid leadership change
The test comes two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who in his last term has sought to court North Korea with a unique brand of personal diplomacy.
Blinken reiterated Washington's “ironclad commitment” to South Korea's defense and spoke with Vice Prime Minister and Acting President Choe Sang-mok about “how the two sides will work together to further strengthen bilateral cooperation and trilateral cooperation with Japan,” the State Department said. said.
Before the brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, Yun was a favorite of President Joe Biden's administration for his pro-American policies on the world stage. He has delighted the United States as it seeks to turn the page on decades of friction with Japan, a US ally that also hosts thousands of US troops.
Yun joined Biden and then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2023 for a landmark trilateral summit at the presidential retreat at Camp David, which included a pledge to step up intelligence cooperation on North Korea. A statement from Choi's office said South Korea remains committed to “the principles and agreements of the Camp David summit.”
The acting president “stated that South Korea will continue to adhere to its diplomatic and security policies based on the strong Korea-US alliance and trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan.”
South Korea's progressive opposition, which made Yun's life miserable after entering parliament and has grown stronger since the president took power, has historically taken a harder line toward Japan.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, himself facing disqualification from the election in a court case, also favors more diplomatic contact with North Korea than the hawkish Yoon.
The upheaval and lack of a clear leader in Asia's fourth-largest economy comes as the US is in the midst of its own political transition.
While Mr. Biden has focused on strengthening alliances with the United States, Trump, who will take office on January 20, is dismissive of what he sees as Washington's unfair commitments. During his last presidential campaign, Trump said that if he were in power, he would make South Korea pay $10 billion a year for the presence of American troops, nearly 10 times the current amount.
But ironically, Trump has 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 North Korea with “fire and fury”, met leader Kim Jong-un three times and said they had “fallen in love”.
Blinken says a truce between Israel and Hamas may not happen under Biden
On Monday, Blinken expressed confidence that a cease-fire agreement would be reached in Gaza, but perhaps after President Joe Biden leaves office on January 20. Blinken, who tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully last year to broker a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, said the Biden administration would “work every minute of every day” until the end of his term to secure a deal to release the hostages.
“We really want to get this done in the next two weeks,” Blinken told reporters in Seoul. “If we don't get it across the finish line in the next two weeks, I'm sure it will be completed at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. If it happens, it will be based on the plan that President Biden has put forward and that has the support of almost the whole world.”
Trump pledged even stronger support for Israel and warned Hamas that he would “pay” if it did not release about 100 hostages believed to be still in Gaza more than a year after the October 7, 2023, terror attack by Hamas. Israeli officials believe that about two-thirds of the remaining hostages are alive.
A Hamas official said 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 was “heavily involved” in reaching the agreement, but it is not yet complete.
“We need Hamas to make the final decisions necessary to complete the deal and fundamentally change the circumstances for the hostages, for their release, for the people of Gaza by bringing them aid, and for the region as a whole, creating an opportunity to actually move forward to something better.” Blinken said.
Blinken has made 12 visits to the Middle East since Hamas's massive attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which the group killed around 1,200 people and captured 251.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded immediately by launching an unrelenting military campaign in Gaza that, according to health officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, has killed more than 45,000 people, destroyed the enclave's entire infrastructure, and displaced virtually all of its residents. forced to leave their homes.