With less than two weeks to go in his job, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Asia. Today he's in Tokyo, after an earlier stop in South Korea that came with a surprise.
North Korea fired a missile for the first time in two months on Monday, the same day Blinken met with South Korea's acting president and other top leaders in Seoul.
He called the launch “a reminder to all of us of how important our collaborative work is.”
Over the past four years, that work has included bringing Japan and South Korea closer together, especially on security collaboration. Suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was a key part of those discussions, which caused him some domestic political backlash.
A State Department news release says the U.S. and South Korea agreed to strengthen “trilateral cooperation with Japan.”
Political changes are looming in Seoul, Washington, and potentially in Tokyo.
So how exactly that cooperation will be strengthened remains to be seen. Although continuing and possibly expanded joint military exercises will likely be a part of it.
Blinken is in Tokyo today, where President Bidenʻs rejection of Nippon Steelʻs bid for U.S. Steel will be part of the headlines.
Less publicity may focus on a smaller deal. The U.S. government announced late last week, carrying its own significance, a $3.6 billion sale of some 1,200 medium-range missiles to Japan.
