Blinken seeks to strengthen relations with Japan in final visit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Tuesday during what is likely to be his final overseas trip in office, which includes visits to South Korea, Japan, and France.

In Tokyo, Blinken will “review the tremendous progress the US-Japan alliance has made over the past few years,” the US State Department said in a statement.

That includes a major arms sales approval announced on Friday under which the US will deliver some €3.5 billion in medium-range missiles, related equipment and training to Japan.

China has repeatedly complained about the potential sale, saying it will affect stability and security in the region, allegations that both Japan and the US reject.

The meeting comes just a day after the US accused Russia of supplying military equipment and training to North Korea.

Speaking with South Korean leaders on Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed concern over deepening ties between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

“We have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang and that Putin may be close to reversing a decadeslong policy by Russia and accepting DPRK’s nuclear weapons program,” he said.

These comments came just hours after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Eastern Sea, and also at a time of political turmoil in South Korea. The country’s president Yoon Suk-yeol has been impeached after his short-lived martial law decree on 3 December.

Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba expressed concern that the North’s accelerated pace in missile tests is advancing its capabilities, just weeks before US president-elect Donald Trump’s return to office.

North Korea last year tested various nuclear-capable systems that threaten its neighbours and the US, including a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile that achieved both the highest altitude and longest flight time of any missile the country has launched.

Blinken will wrap up his trip in Paris in meetings with French officials to discuss developments in the Middle East and European security, particularly in Ukraine.

Video editor • Rory Elliott Armstrong