Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the press in Washington, D.C., July 19. AFP-Yonhap
The United States will do “everything possible” to disrupt Russia’s military assistance to North Korea, a senior U.S. diplomat said Monday, reaffirming America’s security commitment to its allies in the Indo-Pacific.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs Daniel Kritenbrink made the remarks a day after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid amid concerns that should former President Donald Trump return to office, his approach to alliances could lead to a weakening of Washington’s defense commitments to allies.
Kritenbrink held a virtual press briefing on Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to Laos, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia. He said the trip is designed to underscore that the U.S. is “all in” on the Indo-Pacific, which he cast as an “essential driver of America’s future security and prosperity.”
“We’ve seen … the recent support provided by Russia to the DPRK,” Kritenbrink said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“I don’t have anything to say on details. What I will say is that we will continue, as we’ve done in recent weeks, to take a series of measures, including sanctions measures, to do everything possible to disrupt that support,” he added.
He reiterated Washington’s apprehension over a deepening military alignment between Moscow and Pyongyang.
“We are deeply concerned by the cooperation that we see taking place between Moscow and Pyongyang — this nexus that has developed, which we think is destabilizing both for Europe and for Asia,” he said.
“We’ve seen North Korea providing weapons and other material to Russia that’s been used on the battlefield, that’s been used to kill Ukrainians.”
The briefing came after Biden dropped out — an exit that raised anew questions whether his policy drive to strengthen a network of regional allies and reinforce America’s deterrence commitment to them will continue beyond the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Trump’s America-first credo and calls for allies to contribute more towards defense have also cast doubts over whether the U.S. would fully support its allies should they confront a security crisis.
Responding to a question about such doubts, Kritenbrink pointed to “enduring” elements of America’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific as well as “strong” bipartisan support for that.
“As far as reassuring allies, I would just say again (that) we are going to continue to do everything possible to demonstrate that commitment in coming months,” he said.
He also underlined “fundamentals” that undergird America’s engagement in the region.
“We do try to reassure our allies and partners that there are certain fundamentals — I think about America’s engagement — that are not going to change, that have been consistent, such as $2 trillion in trade between the U.S. and the region annually, a trillion dollars of American investment in the region and nearly a trillion dollars of regional investment in the U.S.,” he said.
“There’s strong bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for our allies and partners in our approach to the region. So I think both (are) underscoring the tremendous successes of the last four years, while also pointing out (that) some of those constants and enduring elements of America’s engagement to the region will form the basis of most of our conversations in the week ahead.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the press at the State Department in Washington, D.C., July 17. AP-Yonhap
During his trip to Laos, Blinken is set to attend a set of ministerial meetings, involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including an ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) — a rare multilateral gathering where Pyongyang’s representative has been present.
Kritenbrink said that Blinken is not expecting to have a meeting with a North Korean representative at the ARF meeting. He anticipated a North Korean official would join the ARF.
“But I will reiterate that despite provocative and escalatory steps that North Korea has taken, we continue to reiterate that the door to dialogue remains open,” he said. “Unfortunately of course, North Korea has never taken advantage of that. They have simply continued to take a number of escalatory steps.”
In response to the North’s rejection of dialogue, he said that the U.S. has had no choice but to double down on deterrence measures.
In Japan, Blinken will join Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for a “two-plus-two” foreign and defense ministerial meeting with Japanese counterparts. They will discuss the bilateral alliance and trilateral cooperation with South Korea among other issues, according to Kritenbrink. The officials will also discuss extended deterrence at the ministerial level for the first time.
In addition, Blinken plans to join his Japanese, Australian and Indian counterparts for a Quad foreign ministerial meeting. (Yonhap)
