U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken will visit South Korea next week for discussions on how to deal with North Korea in the wake of its fourth nuclear test, both countries announced Thursday.
The No. 2 American diplomat will be in Seoul Jan. 19-20 and meet with First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a release. He is also expected to hold a meeting with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.
His discussions in Seoul are expected to focus on ways to punish Pyongyang for the nuclear test, including drawing cooperation from China to adopt a new U.N. Security Council resolution imposing fresh sanctions on the North.
In Washington, the State Department said Blinken will "meet with senior level ROK officials to discuss a range of bilateral issues, including our rock solid commitment to ROK security in the face of recent DPRK provocations."
Ahead of Seoul, Blinken will visit Tokyo for trilateral and bilateral meetings with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts to "discuss a variety of topics including the recent North Korean nuclear test, regional issues, and cooperation on global priorities including health security and development," the department said.
The trilateral session is set for Saturday.
After Seoul, Blinken will head to China to meet with Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui for the second interim Strategic Security Dialogue and discuss further cooperation on North Korea's destabilizing activity in the region, the department said.
Blinken will also meet with the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun, it said.
The Asia trip will also take him to Naypyitaw, Myanmar, for meetings with officials involved in the country's democratic transition, the department said. (Yonhap)
