Sec State Blinken To Meet ROK Counterpart Park Jin Amid DPRK Tensions

The US State Department and Pentagon will have another busy week of diplomatic engagements with representatives from the Republic of Korea as the two countries continue to strengthen ties and seek a resolution to antagonism from North Korea.

• ROK officials have warned that North Korea could conduct a nuclear test "at any time." In response, the US, ROK, and Japan have stepped up deterrent measures in the region.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host a working lunch today with Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Park Jin at the State Department followed by a joint presser at 13:45 ET 18:45 BST.
• • Livestream here: www.YouTube.com/statedept.
• Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is in South Korea for the final two days of her nine-day visit to the region.
• Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin held two meetings with his South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-Sup on the side-lines of the Shangri La Security Dialogue over the weekend. The first included Japanese Minister of Defence Kishi Nobuo and “discussed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), enhancing trilateral security cooperation, and addressing common security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.”
• Austin then held a second meeting with Lee Jong-sup “to reaffirm the strength of the U.S.-ROK Alliance.”