SEOUL: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Sunday in South Korea on the first stop of a brief Asia tour also including the Philippines, as Washington moves to reinforce ties with two key regional allies.
Blinken landed Sunday afternoon ahead of the third Summit for Democracy on Monday, an initiative of US President Joe Biden, which Seoul is hosting this week.
Before arriving in Seoul, Blinken made a brief stop in Bahrain, where he spoke to King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa about efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
The summit, which runs from March 18-20 will bring together government officials, NGOs and civil society members. Seoul is one of Washington’s key regional allies, and the United States has stationed about 27,000 American soldiers in the South, to help protect it against the nuclear-armed North.
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