Top U.S. diplomat to visit South Korea with eye on political crisis

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a U.N. Security Council session at U.N. headquarters in New York on Dec. 19. | AFP-JIJI

Wires
January 4, 2025

SEOUL – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit South Korea for talks next week, the two countries announced Friday, with Seoul mired in political turmoil as its impeached president resists arrest.

Blinken, on what will likely be his last international trip before President-elect Donald Trump's return, will also visit Japan and France, the State Department said.

South Korea is a key security ally for Washington, but the country has been wracked by a crisis sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law decree on Dec. 3.