South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of a four-day U.S. visit – Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken via Twitter

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin will meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington D.C. today.

Park will meet Blinken as part of a four-day trip to New York, where he will also meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres and ambassadors to discuss security on the Korean Peninsula, particularly surrounding recent developments in North Korea’s nuclear program—which saw the launching of over 90 missiles last year. Further, Park will likely seek US support for South Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), released in December last year.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol reaffirmed in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal the country’s commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and extended deterrence provided by the U.S., putting aside increased domestic support for the development of an independent nuclear weapons arsenal. This follows the ideas outlined in South Korea’s IPS, which enshrines domestic commitment to the NPT and the rules-based international order in its mission for a “free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific” amid increased conflict and economic reverberations due to Russia’s War in Ukraine. Park is expected to receive confirmation of support from the U.S., as Yoon’s IPS firmly aligns South Korea with international norms and U.S. regional interests.