Blinken to visit South Korea next week amid political crisis

Washington last month said it would “speak out” to South Korea to safeguard democracy after Yoon’s bungled declaration

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Source: Reuters.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken is set to visit South Korea as the country battles a political crisis with Yoon Suk Yeol impeached and subsequently resisting arrest on Friday.

Blinken will travel to the country next week as Washington seeks to strengthen ties with Seoul. He will meet his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul on January 6.

“They are expected to discuss the South Korea-US alliance, South Korea-US-Japan cooperation, North Korea issues, and regional and global challenges,” South Korea’s foreign ministry said.

Investigators probing Yoon’s declaration of martial law made an attempt to enforce a warrant for his arrest on Friday but it was repelled by presidential security guards.

That warrant expires on January 6, the same day Blinken plans to meet Cho.

Washington last month said it would “speak out” to South Korea to safeguard democracy after Yoon’s bungled declaration.

“South Korea’s democracy is robust and resilient, and we’re going to continue to speak out publicly and engage privately with South Korean counterparts to reinforce the importance of that continuing,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

Yoon escapes arrest

Meanwhile, South Korea’s presidential guards and military troops warded off authorities from arresting Yoon.

Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his Dec. 3 martial law bid that stunned South Korea and led to the first arrest warrant to be issued for a sitting president.

“It was judged that it was virtually impossible to execute the arrest warrant due to the ongoing standoff,” the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said in a statement.

CIO officials and police evaded hundreds of Yoon supporters who gathered in pre-dawn hours near his residence on Friday, vowing to block the arrest “with our lives”.

More than 200 PSS agents and soldiers blocked the CIO officers and police, he added. While there were altercations and PSS agents appeared to be carrying firearms, no weapons were drawn.