FM Cho, Blinken to hold talks on margins of APEC summit in Peru
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul speaks during a press briefing at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, Nov. 12. Yonhap
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks on the margins of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Peru later this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.
The talks will take place early Friday (Seoul time) in Lima, where the two top diplomats will gather to attend a ministerial meeting while accompanying the presidents at the APEC summit.
Cho and Blinken are expected to discuss coordination regarding North Korea's troops deployed to Russia in support of Moscow's war in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, South Korea's spy agency confirmed North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat operations against the Ukrainian forces in Russia's western Kursk border region.
The confirmation echoes an earlier announcement by the U.S. State Department that most of the 10,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to the Kursk area have begun engaging in combat.
After meeting North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Wednesday, Blinken said the North's troop deployment to Russia in the war against Kyiv "demands and will get a firm response," according to news reports.
Blinken said the expanding military ties between North Korea and Russia are a "two-way street," expressing concern over what Moscow may be giving Pyongyang in return for the troop deployment, possibly to boost the North's nuclear and other military capacity.
Their talks are also likely to include discussions on efforts to strengthen the bilateral alliance during the transition to the incoming Donald Trump administration.
Cho and Blinken last met in Washington, D.C., late last month for the "two plus two" meeting that was joined by the defense chiefs of the two countries.
On the same day, Cho will also meet one-on-one with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Cho's office said in a separate message to the media.
It will mark the first in-person meeting between Cho and Iwaya since the top Japanese diplomat took office last month with the launch of the new leadership in Tokyo under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Cho and Iwaya are expected to discuss a range of issues concerning both sides, including North Korea's deepening ties with Russia and its troop deployment, as well as efforts to advance bilateral relations that have dramatically improved under the Yoon Suk Yeol government.
They are also likely to discuss plans for next year's 60th anniversary of the normalization of the two countries' diplomatic ties. (Yonhap)