Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the US seeks ‘serious and sustained diplomacy’ with North Korea

• Antony Blinken said the US seeks “serious and sustained diplomacy” with North Korea.
• The Secretary of State’s comments come just days after the US announced sanctions on North Korea.
• Blinken said dealing with North Korea would help keep the peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

The US seeks “serious and sustained diplomacy” with North Korea, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, just days after President Joe Biden announced sanctions on the autocratic state over human rights.

But the US still has the “ultimate goal” of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, Blinken added as he spoke to regional leaders at the Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday.

He highlighted North Korea’s nuclear weapon capabilities as he discussed how the US wants to boost security in the Indo-Pacific region.

“We’ll work with allies and partners to address the threat posed by the DPRK’s nuclear programs through a calibrated, practical approach while also strengthening our extended deterrence,” he said.

He recalled a November meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping when Biden advocated that China and the US should make sure their competition “does not veer into conflict.”

“We take that responsibility with the greatest seriousness. Because the failure to do so would be catastrophic for all of us,” Blinken said.

He also said the US has helped to “keep the peace” in the Indo-Pacific region for decades, and that the US was  “reinforcing” its “strength” so it could continue to do so.

“We don’t want conflict in the Indo-Pacific,” Blinken said.

“Threats are evolving. Our security approach has to evolve with it,” he continued. “We’ll seek closer civilian security cooperation, tackle challenges ranging from violent extremism to illegal fishing to human trafficking.”

In May, Blinken said the US was open to engaging diplomatically with North Korea, and that it was up to Kim Jong Un’s regime to decide if it wanted to respond.

“I hope that North Korea will take the opportunity to engage diplomatically, and to see if there are ways to move forward toward the objective of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” Blinken said at the time. 

Since then, both the US and North Korea have blamed each other for creating “instability” in the Korean peninsula, with Blinken raising concerns over missile tests by North Korea and Kim accusing the US of being the “root cause” of tensions in the region.