Blinken heading to China talks with Park Jin... "Support for mature Korea-China relations efforts"

Sharing Detailed Outcomes of China Visit with Korea
First US Secretary of State Visit to China in 5 Years

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, ahead of his visit to China, stated on the 17th that he supports "South Korea's efforts to develop a healthy and mature Korea-China cooperative relationship based on mutual respect."

On the same day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Foreign Minister Park Jin and Secretary Blinken discussed Korea-U.S. relations, Korea-China and U.S.-China relations, the North Korean issue, key regional and global issues through a phone call.

Foreign Minister Park Jin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Photo by Yonhap News)

During the call, Minister Park expressed support for the U.S. efforts to responsibly manage the difficult U.S.-China relationship and conveyed South Korea's position on Korea-China relations. It is believed that he explained South Korea's response stance regarding recent remarks by Xing Haiming, the Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, which had caused a freeze in Korea-China relations.

The government maintains the principle that the development of friendly Korea-China relations must be based on "mutual respect." Accordingly, it holds the position that appropriate measures from China are necessary to resolve the current situation.

Blinken's remarks can also be interpreted as a response to South Korea's position.

Additionally, Secretary Blinken said he plans to share detailed results of his upcoming visit to China with the South Korean side. He is scheduled to visit China on the 18th and 19th (local time) to meet with high-ranking officials. This marks the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State in five years.

While Blinken's visit to China is unlikely to produce a groundbreaking breakthrough in U.S.-China relations, there is hope that communication channels to manage the relationship and prevent miscalculations and conflicts can be established. If tensions between the U.S. and China ease through this, South Korea's diplomacy toward China may also gain more flexibility.

Minister Park and Secretary Blinken also appear to have discussed China's role in the Korean Peninsula issue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that they strongly condemned North Korea's repeated provocations and agreed that North Korea's denuclearization is in the interest of the entire international community, including China.

This call took place one month after the Korea-U.S. foreign ministers held a separate meeting at the G7 summit held last month in Hiroshima, Japan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.