F.P Report
WASHINGTON: On Thursday Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State commented on his recent official trip to Republic of Korea saying that we had very productive meetings, adding that it was very important to President Biden to demonstrate the value that we place upon the alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea, an alliance that has stood us in such good stead over many, many years.
He added that they had discussion on linchpin of peace, security and prosperity in the region, and we wanted to reaffirm that alliance, but not just reaffirm it build on it.
He further mentioned that we have a very good work program going forward on so many different issues, issues bilateral issues between the United States and Korea, regional issues, and global issues.
The Secretary of State mentioned that we certainly discussed the Korean Peninsula issues, the DPRK, adding that we’re in the midst of a review of our policy that President Biden instructed us to conduct.
He further stated that a critical part of that review is to consult very closely with Korea as well as with Japan and other allies and partners, saying that the last 24 hours were incredibly helpful to us in hearing from our partners here their perspectives, their views, which will be fully integrated into the work that we’re doing.
Other than this Secretary of State also refrained from commenting on the statements made by North Korea saying that I’m most interested in right now are the ones coming from our allies and partners to make sure that we have all of their views and perspectives as we undertake this review of our North Korea policy.
President Biden feels very strongly that for the United States, we need to put human rights and democracy back at the heart of our foreign policy, he said.
Commenting on the trilateral cooperation, he mentioned that I found that to be extremely productive, and I think it is vital to our common security that we engage together on the issue of North Korea with South Korea, with Japan.
Adding that I was working on these issues before as deputy secretary of state during the Obama administration, the trilateral cooperation was extremely productive not just on – in terms of North Korea, but on many, many issues that our three countries have in common and have to deal with together to deal with them effectively.
We’re also involved in a number of informal sub-regional gatherings like the Quad, like the trilateral cooperation with Japan and Korea. We’re working closely with Korea on its own strategy for the South, Blinken remarked.
