Blinken to make final trip to Korea in bid to shore up relations ahead of Trump

Home > National > Diplomacy

Blinken to make final trip to Korea in bid to shore up relations ahead of Trump

Published: 25 Dec. 2024, 17:11 Updated: 25 Dec. 2024, 17:38

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Aqaba, Jordan on Dec. 14. [AFP/YONHAP]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Korea for a final farewell trip as the Biden administration ends early next month, as Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is also set to finalize a visit to Washington immediately following President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

The fact that the United States, which had previously canceled a series of meetings following President Yoon Suk Yeol's Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, is now pushing Blinken’s trip is a signal that the Korea-U.S. alliance is getting back on track in an effort to shore up the relationship ahead of a Trump presidency.

According to a diplomatic source familiar with the situation on Wednesday, Blinken is scheduled to visit Korea, Japan and other countries in early and mid-January as part of his efforts to conclude work begun during the Biden administration. Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul is in turn said to be promoting a visit to the U.S. after the inauguration of Trump on Jan. 20.

“As acting President Han Duck-soo has taken over authority based on the Constitution, the Biden administration is also trying to make the Korea-U.S. alliance a success and hand over a strong alliance to the next administration,” a source said.

“We are discussing the date and time of the Korea-U.S. foreign ministers’ meeting,” an official from Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a meeting with reporters on Tuesday.

Korea and the U.S. are taking steps to mend the rift in the alliance that arose after martial law was declared by Yoon early this month. The U.S. did not hide its displeasure when Yoon declared martial law without prior notice to Washington, canceling the scheduled fourth Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) meeting and the first NCG Table-top Training Exercise.

Secretary of Defense Austin also canceled his scheduled visit to Seoul during his farewell tour of Northeast Asia earlier this month and only visited Tokyo on Dec. 9.

Officially, Washington has always expressed that Korea will handle martial law issues in line with its Constitution, but in private conversations, Washington officials allegedly questioned the constitutionality of the so-called Han-Han joint state administration system, in which Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former People Power Party head Han Dong-hoon would lead the country proposed following the first failed impeachment bill against Yoon.

However, after the second impeachment bill against Yoon was passed by the National Assembly on Dec. 14 and Korea transitioned into an acting government system, the U.S. took steps to stabilize relations, saying that Washington “trusts” Korean democracy.

On Monday, First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun met with U.S. Deputy Secretary State Kurt Campbell during his visit to the U.S. after martial law and agreed to fully resume major diplomatic and security scheduled plans that had been halted.

“Korea’s acting presidential system is functioning stably,” Kim told Campbell, according to the Foreign Ministry, and Campbell in turn responded that “we fully trust Acting President Han’s leadership and the resilience of Korean democracy.”

Meanwhile, it has been determined that no heads of state from other countries will attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony as per usual custom. Trump previously announced that he had invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to the ceremony, but it is said that it is unlikely that Xi will attend.

Some in Korea have criticized the fact that Han was not invited to Trump’s inauguration, but others point out that it is natural for an invitation not to be received based on existing practices.

In previous cases of the U.S. president’s inauguration, the Korean ambassador to Washington and their spouse attended the ceremony. In 2017, then-Ambassador to the U.S. Ahn Ho-young attended the inauguration of Trump’s first term, and in 2021, then-Ambassador Lee Soo-hyuk attended Biden's inauguration. Accordingly, Ambassador Cho Hyun-dong and his wife are expected to attend Trump’s second inauguration.

However, concerns remain that communication between the Korean government and the incoming Trump administration has not been smooth since martial law. Kim Hong-kyun, whose visit lasts from Dec. 22 to 26, did not meet with anyone from Trump’s team. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is coordinating a meeting with the president-elect’s key aides before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

“Until last month, the government tried to use Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation as a link to appeal to the Trump side, but I understand that contact with key figures is not going as well as expected after the impeachment,” a diplomatic source said.

The fact that opposition parties including the Democratic Party are pushing for the impeachment of acting President Han is also raising uncertainty for Korea’s foreign relations. However, no foreign embassies have requested additional explanations regarding the potential impeachment of acting President Han, according to a Foreign Ministry official.

BY PARK HYUN-JU, LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]