Blinken holds phone talks with S. Korean FM ahead of China trip
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin attend the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding and joint news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S. Feb. 3. Reuters-Yonhap
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday supported South Korea's efforts to improve its relationship with Beijing in a phone conversation with his counterpart held ahead of his visit to Beijing this weekend, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Blinken held a phone conversation earlier in the day and touched on various topics, ranging from Seoul's ties with Washington and Beijing to Beijing's relations with Washington and North Korea affairs, according to the ministry.
The ministry said Park delivered Seoul's support for Washington's efforts to responsibly manage its relationship with China in an unfavorable situation.
Blinken also said he supports South Korea's efforts to improve its ties with China in a "healthy and mature" way based on mutual respect, according to the ministry.
During the conversation, Park is also expected to have addressed Seoul's position on recent remarks from Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming that those who "bet on China's loss" in its rivalry with the U.S. "will definitely regret it."
On Tuesday, a South Korean presidential official told reporters that Seoul was waiting for Beijing to take an "appropriate measure," apparently pressuring China to recall its envoy. Seoul's foreign ministry has denounced Xing's remarks, saying the ambassador intentionally criticized South Korea's policy with "inaccurate information."
Saturday's conversation came a day ahead of Blinken's planned two-day trip to China for the first time in five years as the U.S. secretary of state.
During the phone talk, Park and Blinken agreed that North Korea should stop military provocations and that the denuclearization of the North benefits the international community, including China.
The two also shared the opinion that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo should jointly call on China to play a constructive role at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the North's denuclearization, according to the ministry. South Korea was elected as a nonpermanent member of the UNSC earlier this month. (Yonhap)