Washington, 29 February 2024 (TDI): Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Cho Tae-Yul on February 28 in Washington to discuss global and bilateral relations between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea.
The U.S.-ROK has a more than 70-year-long history of diplomatic partnership. The two sides discussed global and regional issues. Secretary Blinken mentioned that he believes their partnership is stronger than it’s ever been.
Secretary Antony Blinken stated, “Great to meet ROK Foreign Minister Cho on his inaugural visit to Washington. We discussed our growing cooperation on global issues and emphasized our concerns about the DPRK’s aggressive behavior, as well as its unlawful military cooperation with Russia”.
Furthermore, he said, the U.S. is grateful at every level, as we worked together virtually or in other ways to tackle the challenges at the world level. And combinedly we worked on different levels to achieve the goals that help our nation in Korea and the U.S.
Lastly, he highlighted, “We had to work on different projects, but I appreciated and was thankful to Korea for arranging a Summit for Democracy. We are thankful that you give importance to this Summit first because it’s very dear to our President Joe Biden”.
Detailed discussion on bilateral issues
“We met with our counterpart from Japan at the G20 Brazil Summit. We had a trilateral meeting and discussed different things. Today, in Washington we met again at the State Department because it’s important and timely,” Secretary Blinken added.
Foreign Minister Cho said, “It is great to meet again. You are the first to congratulate me for being appointed as a Foreign Minister of ROK. I look forward to meeting you again at the third Summit of Democracy hosted by the Republic of Korea”.
Both counterparts discussed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s continuous violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution and exporting ballistic missiles to Russia for the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
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Further, Secretary Blinken and Republic of Korea Foreign Minister discussed the Camp David agreement, as they met with Japan’s counterpart in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This trilateral cooperation addresses maintaining peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Additionally, they talked about the ongoing work by Korea in climate security, space exploration, AI, quantum technology, etc. Foreign Minister Cho thanked Secretary Blinken, as the US supported Korea in this because this benefitted both the US and Korean nations.
Moreover, both believed the DPRK’s continued support for Russia became a serious threat to the region’s security. They also talked about China’s economic ties with Russia for supporting Russian defense industries.
At last, both committed to support Ukraine at this difficult time against Russian aggression. Also, they condemned Houthi attacks and ensured to work together to maintain prosperity and security and navigate the freedom of the Gulf of Aden.
