Senior US diplomat meets Seoul officials

By Yi Whan-woo

Tony Blinken

A visiting senior U.S. diplomat discussed issues related to the Seoul-Washington alliance and North Korea’s nuclear threat in a series of meetings with South Korean officials, Tuesday.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken met his counterpart First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong in Seoul and fine-tuned agenda items for a summit between the leaders of the two allies scheduled for Oct. 16 in Washington.

Blinken and Cho shared thoughts on Pyongyang’s nuclear program and its threat last month that it may carry out its fourth nuclear test, Seoul officials said. The military regime conducted such tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

Blinken then held talks with Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo before meeting Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the main purpose of Blinken’s visit was to review and coordinate issues that President Park Geun-hye and U.S. President Barack Obama may discuss at their Oct. 16 summit.

The two leaders are expected to announce the so-called Joint Fact Sheet, which calls for bilateral cooperation in comprehensive fields, according to diplomatic sources.

They said the targeted fields are likely to include North Korea, the Seoul-Washington alliance, international peacekeeping, climate change and global health security.

Meanwhile, Blinken’s trip has raised speculation that the U.S. is bolstering its dialogue with South Korea, China and Japan to resolve the issue of North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons.

The four nations are members of the dormant six-party talks that are aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. The remaining two members are North Korea and Russia.

This is a part of Blinken’s East Asia tour from Oct. 5 to 10.

He stopped by Japan before arriving here. He will attend a seminar on regional security in Seoul on Oct. 7 and head to Beijing on Oct. 8 to meet Liu Yunshan, a senior member of China’s Communist Party.

Liu is one of the seven highest-ranking officials on the party’s Standing Committee of the Political Bureau.

Liu will lead the Chinese delegation to North Korea when Pyongyang marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of its Workers’ Party on Oct. 10.