US secretary of state warns of Russia sharing space, satellite technology with North Korea
During his farewell trip to Seoul, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday voiced a dual message to politically turbulent South Korea: "tremendous confidence" in its democratic resilience and "serious concerns" over suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration and related actions.
Blinken’s final trip as secretary of state including a visit to South Korea came at a pivotal moment as he acknowledged that the democracy of the US ally, grounded in shared democratic values, has faced challenges and tests in recent weeks.
During his visit, he held meetings with acting President Choi Sang-mok, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, and his South Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul.
“So we had serious concerns about some of the actions that President Yoon took and we communicated those directly to the government,” Blinken said during a joint conference with Cho following their meeting in Seoul.
“At the same time, we have tremendous confidence in the resilience of South Korea's democracy and in the strength of its institutions, and in the efforts that it's making to work through those institutions, pursuant to the constitution and the rule of law, to resolve differences and to do so peacefully.”
Blinken noted that South Korea’s response to the democratic test posed by Yoon’s martial law declaration has been -- and will continue to be -- a critical measure of its democratic resilience. He emphasized that what distinguishes democracies from other political systems is their ability to confront and address challenges, including those arising from within.
“The United States has full confidence in South Korea's institutions and we reaffirmed our long-wavering support for the Korean people as they work tirelessly to uphold those institutions.”
Cho underscored that Blinken’s visit to South Korea and the bilateral foreign ministers’ meeting “holds a particularly significant meaning at this time.”
"First, it is about securing complete trust in the Korea-US alliance and restoring a values-based alliance. Today, we reaffirmed that there are no gaps whatsoever in the Korea-US alliance," Cho told reporters.
Cho stated that he had made it clear the country’s affairs would be managed stably, with its foreign policy direction remaining steadfast and firmly anchored in the robust Korea-US alliance under the acting president system during his meeting with Blinken.
Cho also pledged to intensify efforts to restore the international community’s trust in South Korea, which has been shaken by Yoon’s martial law decree.
"The declaration of martial law and the subsequent handling of the situation reflects both the vulnerabilities and the strong resilience of our democracy, presenting a dual perspective," Cho said.
Cho highlighted that the international community rightly emphasizes resilience over vulnerability when assessing Korea’s democratic future.
"Therefore I will fully dedicate myself to swiftly stabilizing our foreign relations and restoring the international community’s trust, drawing on the invaluable assets of our society’s strong democratic resilience and the mature civic spirit of our people," Cho added.
During the news conference, Blinken also warned of the far-reaching security risks posed by the closer military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, including the potential transfer of space and satellite technology and the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin accepting North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Blinken stated that, in the final week of December, over 1,000 North Korean forces were killed or injured -- a human cost tied to Russia’s efforts to forcibly redraw Ukraine’s borders. He described this as a stark indicator of the growing threat posed by the deepening collaboration between revisionist authoritarian regimes in Moscow and Pyongyang.
"Now, this is a two-way street. The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training," Blinken said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang and that Putin may be close to reversing a decades-long policy by Russia and accepting the DPRK's nuclear weapons program."
On North Korea, both Blinken and Cho condemned Pyongyang’s ballistic missile launch, conducted immediately after the foreign ministers’ meeting began in Seoul.
Blinken also noted that the missile launch served as a stark reminder of the critical importance of trilateral collaboration among South Korea, the US and Japan. He emphasized the value of real-time information sharing on North Korean missile launches and combined exercises conducted on a trilateral basis to strengthen regional security.
"All of that -- and more -- is a strong and effective response to the provocations from North Korea," Blinken said when asked about mounting concerns over the sustainability of the trilateral partnership amid the forthcoming inauguration of the Trump administration and political uncertainties in South Korea.
"So I have confidence that, because it’s in the interest of all of us, it will continue, and future administrations -- whether it's here, whether it's in the United States, whether it's in Japan -- will continue to build on the work we’ve done together."
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