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| US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s visit to Japan. © AFP=News1 |
US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visit Korea at the same time on the 17th.
The two ministers plan to visit Korea on a private plane through the Osan base after completing their visit to Japan for 3 days and 2 nights on this afternoon.
After arriving in South Korea, Minister Blincoln and Defense Minister Austin will hold a meeting with counter partners Jeong-Yong Jeong and Defense Minister Seo-wook, respectively, in the afternoon.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ROK and the United States plan to discuss key issues of interest between the ROK and the United States such as the ROK-US alliance, the Korean Peninsula issue, regional cooperation, and global partnerships at the diplomatic and defense ministers’ meetings.
On the morning of the 18th, the second day of their visit to Korea, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Korea and the United States will hold a meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense (2+2) for 90 minutes at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office. It has been 5 years since the talks of the Korean-US diplomatic and defense ministers (2+2), and it has been 11 years since the US diplomatic and defense ministers visited Korea at the same time.
In particular, the day before, the Labor Party’s Vice Chairman Kim Yeo-jeong gave a hard-line remark to South Korea, saying, “The spring day three years ago will not be easy to come back” on the 16th. .
In addition, the US is expected to emphasize the necessity of cooperation between the US and Japan at this meeting. In the schedule of the visit to Japan on the 16th, the two Ministers Blincoln and Austin are known to have emphasized the cooperation between the two Koreas.
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| U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blincoln and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visit Korea. © News1 Designer Choi Soo-ah |
After that, they will go to the Special Agreement on Defense Expenses Shares (SMA) together and attend the ceremony. Earlier, the ROK-US and the United States finally concluded the 11th SMA negotiations 46 days after the Biden administration was inaugurated, and Gao Myung-sik, attended by the defense ministers of the two countries, has a strong character of’performance’ that shows off the military alliance between the two countries.
Immediately after the appointment, the two countries adopted a joint statement containing the results of the 2+2 meeting and held a joint press conference. The joint press conference will be broadcast live.
Ministers Blincoln and Austin meet President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House for the last official schedule this afternoon. The exact time has not yet been disclosed.
In addition, on the same day, Minister Blincoln held a video conference with the Korean media and youth leaders, and Secretary Austin visited the Cemetery with Defense Minister Seo Wook.
Following his visit to Korea, Secretary Blincoln leaves for Alaska this evening to attend high-level talks between the US and China. Minister Austin stays in Korea for one more day and leaves for India, his next destination on the 19th.
Meanwhile, in consideration of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) situation, luncheons and dinners will not be held on this schedule.