Cho Tae-yeol and Blinken's First Call: "Strong Condemnation of North Korean Provocations and North-Russia Military Cooperation"

Cho Tae-yeol, the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, is greeting the press after arriving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 11th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol held his first phone call since taking office with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss Korea-U.S. relations and North Korea issues. The two ministers strongly condemned North Korea-Russia arms transactions and agreed to closely cooperate.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 12th, Minister Cho and Secretary Blinken had their first call the previous afternoon, which also served as a courtesy call after their appointments.

The two ministers shared assessments and concerns about North Korea's threats, including artillery fire in the West Sea earlier this year. They also strongly condemned North Korea's illegal nuclear and missile development and provocations, as well as military cooperation including arms support to Russia, agreeing to closely cooperate on international platforms such as the United Nations.

They agreed to enhance the effectiveness of extended deterrence through the Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) and the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG), and to firmly respond to North Korean provocations based on close Korea-U.S. and Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation.

Secretary Blinken expressed his intention to maintain close communication with Minister Cho and work together to advance the Korea-U.S. alliance. He also hoped that Minister Cho would visit the U.S. at a mutually convenient time to hold in-depth consultations on strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance and Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation.

Minister Cho responded by saying that, as the newly appointed foreign minister, he feels a great responsibility to further develop the achievements of last year's state visit to the U.S. and the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance, and hopes to further advance the alliance through a close partnership going forward.

The U.S. Department of State also released a statement reporting the phone call between Minister Cho and Secretary Blinken. The State Department's statement included references to the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

The State Department explained, "Secretary Blinken and Minister Cho agreed to continue cooperating to address the complex and evolving security challenges posed by North Korea and to support peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea." This is interpreted as expressing concern over China's military demonstrations ahead of the Taiwan presidential election on the 13th.

There was also mention of arms transactions between North Korea and Russia. Secretary Blinken expressed gratitude for South Korea's participation when about 50 foreign ministers, including those from Korea, the U.S., and Japan, issued a joint statement on the 9th condemning Russia's attacks on Ukraine using North Korean ballistic missiles.

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