Blinken arrives in South Korea for democracy summit

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in South Korea on Sunday, the first stop on a brief Asia tour that also includes the Philippines, as Washington moves to strengthen ties with two key regional allies.

Blinken arrived Sunday afternoon ahead of Monday’s third Democratic Summit, an initiative of U.S. President Joe Biden, which Seoul is hosting this week.

Before arriving in Seoul, Blinken stopped briefly in Bahrain, where he spoke with King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa about efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.

The summit will take place from March 18 to 20 and will bring together government officials, non-governmental organizations and members of civil society.

Seoul is one of Washington’s key regional allies, and the United States has stationed about 27,000 American troops in South Korea to help protect it from a nuclear-armed North.

Seoul’s conservative President Yun Seok-yeol has strengthened ties with Washington and sought to bury the hatchet with former colonial power Japan to better guard against threats from Pyongyang.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said Blinken would meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol to discuss how to strengthen the two countries’ alliance, as Washington and Seoul explore how to strengthen so-called “extended deterrence” against North Korea.

The democracy summit has drawn some criticism for its selective invitation list, which excludes countries that consider themselves democratic, such as Thailand and Turkey.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken would travel to Manila after Seoul and that the visit would reaffirm “our unwavering commitment to our allies in the Philippines.”

He will hold talks with local officials, including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. – and issues with China, including the South China Sea dispute, are likely to be at the top of the agenda.

The United States is redoubling efforts to improve long-term relations with regional allies such as Manila to counterbalance China.

Beijing has recently accused Washington of using the Philippines as a “pawn” in disputes in the South China Sea, following a series of clashes over disputed islands.

China claims nearly the entire waterway, defying competing claims from many Southeast Asian countries and an international ruling that declared its position baseless.

The South China Sea is of strategic importance to many countries, including China, and is a key route for the import and export of important fuel, food and other commodities.

China has rapidly developed its naval power in recent years and seized large swathes of the sea in the hope of projecting its military and political power far from its shores.