Blinken to visit South Korea with eye on political crisis

SEOUL (AFP) : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit South Korea for talks next week, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Friday, with the country mired in political turmoil as its impeached president resists arrest.

South Korea is a key security ally for Washington but the country has been wracked by a crisis sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law decree on December 3.

Blinken will meet his counterpart Cho Tae-yul on Monday, Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“They are expected to discuss the South Korea-US alliance, South Korea-US-Japan cooperation, North Korea issues, and regional and global challenges,” the ministry said.

Investigators probing Yoon’s declaration of martial law made an attempt to enforce a warrant for his arrest on Friday but it was repelled by presidential security guards.

That warrant expires January 6, the same day Blinken plans to meet Cho.

Washington last month said it would “speak out” to South Korea to safeguard democracy after Yoon’s bungled declaration.

“South Korea’s democracy is robust and resilient, and we’re going to continue to speak out publicly and engage privately with South Korean counterparts to reinforce the importance of that continuing,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

Yoon remains South Korea’s sitting president but is suspended pending a constitutional court decision over his impeachment.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has been installed as the country’s acting president, and has only been in office for a week.