Blinken arrives in Seoul for talks focused on North Korea and its military cooperation with Russia

By MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, suspected North Korean cooperation with Russia in its war on Ukraine and concerns about China’s growing aggressiveness are topping U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s agenda as he visits South Korea. Blinken was in Seoul on Thursday for talks with South Korea’s leadership following a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Japan on Wednesday in which the group previewed much of what he will discuss. The G7 “strongly condemned” North Korea’s ballistic missile tests as well as its alleged arms transfers to Russia, which are both in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions against the North.