Author: PolitCens

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed America’s commitment to NATO as he sought to strengthen the transatlantic relationship in a two-day summit this week in Brussels, which wrapped up Wednesday. As Henry Ridgwell reports, a broad agenda included the growing threat posed by China.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell
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U.S. President Joe Biden is urging Congress to pass tighter gun laws following two mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story. 
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U.S. lawmakers are taking a new look at a decades-old law that grants U.S. presidents sweeping powers to wage war overseas. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Congress may attempt to take back some of that power.Produced by: Katherine Gypson  
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The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed former union leader Marty Walsh, a son of Irish immigrants, as the next labor secretary, boosting U.S. President Joe Biden’s efforts to expand workers’ protection and delivering a win for the country’s organized labor movement.Walsh’s confirmation, by a 68-29 margin on Monday evening, is likely to have a major impact on U.S. workplace laws and regulations, including vigorous enforcement of occupational safety and health rules, overtime payments and proper administration of employee benefit plans.Walsh, 53, led Boston’s Building and Construction Trades Council for two years before winning the 2013 race for mayor with strong backing from large labor groups. He has also served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.Walsh has supported key proposals affecting workers, including a $15 minimum wage, paid family leave and the PRO Act, a proposal to update labor laws and give workers more ability to organize at work that the House of Representatives passed last year.Despite the far-reaching impact on employers and businesses, Walsh’s nomination has not attracted much controversy.During his nomination hearing, Walsh spoke about being collaborative, a trait that has won him support from large business groups.”Throughout my career, I’ve led by listening, collaborating and building partnerships. That’s how, if confirmed, I will lead the Department of Labor,” he said.In a letter to the Senate last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it supported Walsh’s nomination, noting that he “has a reputation as a consensus builder and has displayed a willingness to work with a wide array of constituencies.”Walsh would be the last of Biden’s Cabinet secretaries to be confirmed by the Senate, though two other Cabinet-level positions remain to be confirmed.  
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Brussels on Monday for meetings this week that the State Department says are aimed at boosting ties with NATO allies and partnering on issues such as climate change, counterterrorism and ongoing efforts in combating the coronavirus pandemic.  Blinken is scheduled to take part in a meeting of NATO foreign ministers Tuesday and Wednesday, and to also hold talks with NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.  FILE – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Feb. 15, 2021.”It’ll be an opportunity for the secretary and the foreign ministers to discuss the NATO 2030 initiative,” Philip Reeker, acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told reporters ahead of Blinken’s trip. “Proposals under that (2030 initiative) for alliance adaptation, concerns over China and Russia, as well as climate change, cybersecurity, hybrid threats, combating terrorism, energy security — clearly the global pandemic enters into this, and other common challenges that we face together.”   After four years of foreign policy under former President Donald Trump that focused only on prioritizing U.S. interests, Reeker said Blinken will deliver a speech in Brussels outlining a commitment to “rebuilding and revitalizing alliances,” while highlighting the importance of NATO.   “We know we’re stronger and better able to overcome challenges when we face them together, and we’re going to modernize our alliances, mend them as needed, and deal with the world as we face it,” Reeker said.  Blinken’s arrival in Europe on Monday came as the United States issued coordinated sanctions with the European Union on both China and Myanmar. The Myanmar sanctions targeted top officials who are linked to last month’s military coup, while the China sanctions were aimed at several Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses against the Muslim Uyghur minority in China’s Xinjiang province. FILE – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell hold a joint news conference, in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 8, 2020.Regarding Iran, Reeker said the top U.S. diplomat will consult with EU colleagues about the prospects of the United States and Iran mutually returning to the agreement signed in 2015 that limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.  Both the United States, which left the deal under Trump in 2018, and Iran, which responded by taking steps away from its commitments, have expressed a willingness to observe the agreement once again, but each has signaled the other side should start first.  The final part of Blinken’s trip agenda is bilateral talks with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sophie Wilmès. 
 
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The U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee held a hearing Monday on a bill that would make Washington, D.C., the country’s 51st state.The bill — which passed in the House last year but died in the then-Republican-controlled Senate — represents what was once considered a fringe proposition among a handful of advocates to becoming part of the agenda for Democrats in Congress.The District of Columbia was created on an undeveloped tract of land between the U.S. states of Maryland and Virginia in 1790 and became known as the Federal City for a brief period afterward. Residents initially were allowed to vote in either Maryland or Virginia.But in 1800, the U.S. Congress moved into the new Capitol, and later passed the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, which stripped D.C. residents of voting rights in all federal elections, including for U.S. president, and gave Congress oversight of the city.Washington currently has more than 700,000 residents — a population greater than the states of Wyoming and Vermont — who do not have a vote in Congress. At Monday’s hearing, D.C. House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, author of the legislation, said it was designed to correct that situation.As a delegate, Norton can vote in committee but not for the final bill passage.Under her plan, the area that includes the Capitol, the White House and federal office buildings would become the “federal district,” with the remaining portions of the city becoming the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, named partially for former slave, abolitionist and voting rights advocate Frederick Douglass.Republicans in Congress vehemently oppose the bill as a “power grab” by Democrats, as the staunchly Democratic city would mean more seats for their party in Congress.Republicans argued their opposition last week on constitutional grounds, with conservative witnesses arguing that statehood could not be achieved through simple legislation and that a constitutional amendment would be required.If it passes in the House, the measure will have difficulty passing the Senate, where Democrats have only a one-seat majority, and the bill would need eight Republican votes. 
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U.S. Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday that the country’s southwestern border with Mexico is “secure” and “closed,” even as thousands of Central American migrants are pouring into the United States at a rate that is on pace to be the highest in 20 years. The U.S. currently is holding 15,000 unaccompanied migrant children at the border, but Mayorkas said the U.S. was obligated under its laws to care for them, rather than expel them to their home countries as was the policy under former President Donald Trump. Mayorkas said it was “just false” to say that the children were “dealt with humanely” under the Trump administration. “The prior administration dismantled the asylum process,” he told the “Fox News Sunday” show. “We are encouraging families not to send their children” to the border. But if the children cross into the United States, he said they will be cared for over several days, sent to relatives already living in the United States or placed with vetted people willing to take care of them. “This is about vulnerable children,” he said. “We can (process them) in a safe and orderly manner. We will succeed.” Single adults and families arriving at the border are being sent back to Mexico under current U.S. immigration policies. When President Joe Biden took office two months ago, he stopped construction of the border wall Trump championed and embraced what Biden said would be more humane immigration policies. While he has urged people in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to stay home, his policy shifts have led to thousands of people making the dangerous trek north through Mexico to try to reach the U.S. The bigger flow of migrants started last April, nine months before Trump left office, but has grown markedly under Biden. According to government records, about 74,000 people were stopped at the border in December, Trump’s last full month in office, but the total grew to 100,000 in February, Biden’s first full month as president. In the same two months, the number of unaccompanied children reaching the U.S. grew from about 5,000 to more than 9,400, The migration crisis has proven to be a quick political headache for Biden. An administration critic, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate, told Fox News, “It was the Biden administration that ended the ‘remain in Mexico’ policy” of the Trump administration, “The border is wide open,” Cotton said, rebuffing Mayorkas’s contention that it is secure. He said Biden has “dismantled the very effective policies the Trump administration had in place.” Last week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy led a group of Republican lawmakers to the border to condemn Biden’s policies. “This crisis is created by the presidential policies of this new administration,” McCarthy said. “There’s no other way to claim it than a Biden border crisis.” 
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Democrats in the US Senate are considering a historic rule change in order to get President Joe Biden’s agenda passed. VOA’s Steve Redisch explains the filibuster.
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The US secretary of state and national security adviser wrapped up their first in-person talks with top Chinese officials in Alaska on Friday. Elizabeth Lee reports.
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The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation Friday condemning the military coup in Myanmar, as lawmakers decried increasingly harsh tactics used to suppress demonstrations since the February 1 ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.The measure passed 398-14, with one lawmaker voting “present.” All of the “no” and “present” votes came from Republicans.The resolution condemned the coup and the detention of Myanmar’s civilian leaders, called for the release of all those detained and for those elected to serve in parliament to resume their duties.The House had passed another Burma-related measure Thursday by voice vote. That bill, which must be passed by the Senate before becoming law, would require President Joe Biden’s administration to provide a report to Congress on events in Myanmar and its response to them.”We must, we must make it clear that the United States is watching and that we support the restoration of democracy,” said Representative Gregory Meeks, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urging support for the measures.Security forces killed at least nine opponents of Mynamar’s military junta Friday, as Southeast Asian countries urged an end to the violence and Western ambassadors condemned what they called the army’s “immoral, indefensible” actions.  
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U.S. President Joe Biden announced Friday he plans to nominate former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to lead the U.S. space agency, NASA.In a statement, the White House says as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a three-term senator from Florida, Nelson, a Democrat, chaired committees on space, science and transportation. They also note he co-authored the landmark 2010 NASA bill which set the current path of private-sector partnership. In the statement, the White House notes Nelson, as a congressman in 1986, even flew on a six-day space shuttle mission. He currently serves on the NASA advisory council.Nelson, if approved by the Senate, would take over the agency as commercial space projects are already shuttling supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station.NASA is also preparing to return astronauts to the moon in the next four years.Nelson’s nomination has already received the endorsement of Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican.“I cannot think of anyone better to lead NASA than Bill Nelson,” Rubio tweeted on Thursday.
If approved, Nelson would be NASA’s 14th administrator, and would take over from the Trump administration’s appointee, former Oklahoma congressman Jim Bridenstine.
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Another key piece of U.S. President Joe Biden’s team moved into place Thursday, with lawmakers in the Senate confirming former Ambassador William Burns to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).Senators skipped a roll-call vote and approved Burns by unanimous consent, just hours after a hold on the nomination had been lifted.Burns earned praise from both Democrats and Republicans following his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, with committee chairman Senator Mark Warner calling the bipartisan support a “testament to the nominee’s unquestioned qualifications.”JUST IN: Praise & congratulations for newly confirmed @CIA Director William Burns from @ODNIgov Director Avril HainesThe Senate confirmed the 64yo former ambassador by unanimous consent earlier after a weeks-long hold on his nomination was lifted pic.twitter.com/Tj8fUngFvY— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) March 18, 2021But Burns hit a roadblock earlier this month when Senator Ted Cruz put a hold on the nomination, citing objections to the Biden administration’s handling of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.Cruz lifted the hold Thursday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement warning countries participating in the Russian project risked U.S. sanctions.In light of the Secretary’s strong declaration, I’m following through on my commitment to lift the NS2-related holds I have placed on William Burns & Brian McKeon, the President’s nominees for director of the CIA & Deputy Secretary of State for Management & Resources.— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 18, 2021With Thursday’s Senate confirmation, the 64-year-old Burns becomes the first career diplomat to lead to the U.S. spy agency.Former intelligence officials have said he will have to quickly take on several challenges, including concerns about morale within the agency stemming from complaints that intelligence products were politicized under former President Donald Trump.”Politics must stop where intelligence work begins,” Burns told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing last month, promising a return to the credo of “speaking truth to power.”Biden “said he wants the agency to give it to him straight, and I pledged to do just that, and to defend those who do the same,” Burns added.As for external challenges, former officials and lawmakers have said Burns’ decades of experience as a diplomat, including stints in Russia and the Middle East, should serve him well.Burns, though, told lawmakers his top priority will be countering China, telling lawmakers that Beijing’s “aggressive, undisguised ambition and assertiveness” is a “very sharp wake-up call.”Burns has also warned the spy agency must be wary of underestimating Russia, Iran, and a host of other adversaries.Former intelligence officials say the list is long.“CIA cannot take its eye off the ball on terrorism, or the serious challenges presented by Russia and Iran,” Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff, told VOA. “It also needs to work with the broader IC [intelligence community] and its customers to determine the appropriate level of CIA support to the increasingly important challenges of global health, climate change, and cyber.”“And, of course, this will have to take place in a period of, at best, zero growth in budget,” he added.
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The House voted Thursday to open a gateway to citizenship for young Dreamers, migrant farm workers and immigrants who’ve fled war or natural disasters, giving Democrats wins in the year’s first votes on an issue that once again faces an uphill climb to make progress in the Senate.On a near party-line 228-197 vote, lawmakers approved one bill offering legal status to around 2 million Dreamers, brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and hundreds of thousands of migrants admitted for humanitarian reasons from a dozen troubled countries.They then voted 247-174 for a second measure creating similar protections for 1 million farm workers who have worked in the U.S. illegally; the government estimates they comprise half the nation’s agricultural laborers.Both bills hit a wall of opposition from Republicans insistent that any immigration legislation bolster security at the Mexican border, which waves of migrants have tried to breach in recent weeks. The party has accused congressional Democrats of ignoring that problem and President Joe Biden of fueling it by erasing former President Donald Trump’s restrictive policies, even though that surge began while Trump was still in office.While Dreamers win wide public support and migrant farm workers are a backbone of the agriculture industry, both House bills face gloomy prospects in the evenly split Senate. That chamber’s 50 Democrats will need at least 10 Republican supporters to break Republican filibusters.The outlook was even grimmer for Biden’s more ambitious goal of legislation making citizenship possible for all 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, easing visa restrictions, improving border security technology and spending billions in Central America to ease problems that prompt people to leave.’They’re so much of our country’Congress has deadlocked over immigration for years, and the issue once again seemed headed toward becoming political ammunition. Republicans could use it to rally conservative voters in upcoming elections, while Democrats could add it to a stack of House-passed measures languishing in the Senate to build support for abolishing that chamber’s bill-killing filibusters.Democrats said their measures were aimed not at border security but at addressing groups of immigrants who deserve to be helped.”They’re so much of our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Dreamers, who like many immigrants have held frontline jobs during the pandemic. “These immigrant communities strengthen, enrich and ennoble our nation, and they must be allowed to stay.”Neither House measure would directly affect those trying to cross the boundary from Mexico. But Republicans criticized them for lacking border security provisions and turned the debate into an opportunity to lambast Biden, who has ridden a wave of popularity since taking office and won passage of a massive COVID-19 relief package.”It is a Biden border crisis, and it is spinning out of control,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.While the number of migrants caught trying to cross the border from Mexico has been rising since April, the 100,441 people encountered last month was the highest figure since March 2019. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said the number is tracking toward a 20-year high.Democrats were making that problem worse, Republicans said, with bills they said entice smugglers to sneak more immigrants into the U.S. and provide amnesty to immigrants who break laws to enter and live in the country.”We don’t know who these people are, we don’t know what their intentions are,” Rep. Jody Hice, Republican of Georgia, said of immigrant farm workers who might seek legal status. He added, “It’s frightening, it’s irresponsible, it’s endangering American lives.”Getting green cardsDuring earlier debate on the Dreamers’ bill, Democrats said Republicans were going too far.”Sometimes I stand in this chamber and I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone, listening to a number of my Republican colleagues espouse white supremacist ideology to denigrate our Dreamers,” said Rep. Mondaire Jones, a Democrat from New York.Nine largely moderate Republicans joined all Democrats in backing the Dreamers bill.White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden supports both bills as “critical milestones toward much needed relief for the millions of individuals who call the United States home.”The Dreamer bill would grant conditional legal status for 10 years to many immigrants up to age 18 who were brought into the U.S. illegally before this year. They’d have to graduate from high school or have equivalent educational credentials, not have serious criminal records and meet other conditions.To attain legal permanent residence, often called a green card, they’d have to obtain a higher education degree, serve in the military or be employed for at least three years. Like all others with green cards, they could then apply for citizenship after five years.The measure would also grant green cards to an estimated 400,000 immigrants with temporary protected status, which allows temporary residence to people who have fled violence or natural disasters in a dozen countries.The other bill would let immigrant farm workers who’ve worked in the country illegally over the past two years — along their spouses and children — get certified agriculture worker status. That would let them remain in the U.S. for renewable 5½-year periods.To earn green cards, they would have to pay a $1,000 fine and work for up to an additional eight years, depending on how long they’ve already held farm jobs.The legislation would also cap wage increases, streamline the process for employers to get H-2A visas that let immigrants work legally on farm jobs and phase in a mandatory system for electronically verifying that agriculture workers are in the U.S. legally.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are meeting Thursday in Anchorage, Alaska, in what will be the first bilateral meeting between Chinese and American officials since June.Ahead of the meeting, Blinken was in South Korea, where he said China has a shared interest in seeing North Korea end its nuclear weapons program.“China has a critical role to play in working to convince North Korea to pursue denuclearization,” Blinken said. “Virtually all of North Korea’s economic relationships, its trade, are with or goes through China, so it has tremendous influence.”U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to soon unveil its official policy toward North Korea, which Blinken said would include input from both South Korea and Japan.Focus on North KoreaBlinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met jointly with South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Chung Eui-yong and National Defense Minister Suh Wook on Thursday, as the two sides concluded talks in Seoul largely focused on security threats posed by North Korea.“We are committed to the denuclearization of North Korea, reducing the threat that DPRK poses to the United States and our allies, and improving the lives of all Koreans, including the people of North Korea, who continue to suffer widespread and systematic abuses there,” Blinken said during a press event, using the abbreviation for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.South Korean President Moon Jae-in poses for a photo with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, March 18, 2021.South Korea hosts roughly 28,000 American soldiers, and during a ceremony this week, the two countries signed an agreement on the cost of stationing these forces, which had been a source of friction between Seoul and Washington during the final years of the Trump administration.Austin, a retired U.S. Army general, said the alliance remained “ironclad.”“The United States remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea, using the full range of U.S. capabilities, including our extended deterrent,” Austin said, using the formal name for South Korea.The American officials are representing the Biden administration during its first Cabinet-level overseas trip, which included meetings in Tokyo earlier this week. However, the stop in South Korea came after four years of often frayed relations between Washington and Seoul that the new U.S. president appears eager to repair, analysts said.Hee-jin Koo, a research fellow with the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, said the trip to the region by Blinken and Austin was a “turning point” for the United States and its allies.’A reconnection’The secretaries’ visits could improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo, but also mend fences between the White House and South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, who Koo said was sometimes “left out” of the Trump administration’s North Korean engagement.”So, it is a reconnection between the U.S. administration and the Moon administration,” Koo told VOA News.But even under new U.S. leadership, there are still differing views on how best to re-engage Pyongyang that the allies will need to resolve, Koo added.“South Korea is rather torn currently. It is trying to do a balancing act between trying to restore frayed inter-Korean relations, as well as enhancing its U.S.-South Korea alliance,” she said.Washington says it has tried to open a dialogue with North Korea, reaching out to its U.N. mission in New York as well as through other channels, and has received no response.FILE – North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui attends the welcome ceremony of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, March 1, 2019.However, in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korea Central News Agency on Thursday, First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said that despite those attempts, her government intended to “disregard” Washington’s overtures.“No DPRK-U.S. contact and dialogue of any kind can be possible unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy towards the DPRK,” Choe wrote.”In order for a dialogue to be made, an atmosphere for both parties to exchange words on an equal basis must be created,” Choe said.Military exercisesChoe also criticized U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began this month, as well as remarks that Blinken made while in Tokyo, where he said Washington was considering new “pressure measures” against Pyongyang.Koo, the analyst, said Pyongyang might be signaling that it wants higher-level contact, just as it received during the Trump administration.“What it wants is to have a status quo, also an easing of the current sanctions, which has actually pinched North Korea’s economy, especially amid the pandemic,” she said. 
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California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as secretary of Health and Human Services on Thursday, clearing the way for him to take the helm of the sprawling department as the United States battles the COVID-19 pandemic. Becerra won confirmation to join President Joe Biden’s Cabinet on a party-line 50-49 vote. Becerra, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 26 years and was a member of Democratic leadership, will oversee an expansion of the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. Republicans opposed his nomination, citing his lack of experience on health matters and his support for expanding the government’s role in providing health care and liberalizing immigration policies. Earlier this month, Becerra’s confirmation prospects became uncertain after his nomination was bottled up in a Senate committee that deadlocked in a 14-14 tie over whether to send Biden’s pick to the full Senate for confirmation. FILE – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) looks on during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 2, 2021.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer maneuvered to remove the nomination from the committee, setting up Thursday’s final vote. “As America battles the COVID pandemic, his confirmation is long overdue,” Democratic Senator Edward Markey said during debate. He added that Becerra “is committed to reproductive freedom,” a hot-button issue for senators who oppose abortion. On Wednesday, the top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell, urged the Senate to reject the 63-year-old Becerra. FILE – Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, Dec. 8. 2020.”The distinguishing feature of this nominee’s resume is not his expertise in health, medicine, or administration,” McConnell said. “What stands out are Mr. Becerra’s commitment to partisan warfare and his far-left ideology.” Becerra will oversee the Department of Health and Human Services’ more than 80,000 employees in the United States and abroad. The agency is responsible for programs ranging from Obamacare, disease control and health research to the gigantic Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs for the older Americans, the poor and disabled. 
 
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Top U.S. and South Korean foreign policy and defense officials have concluded talks in Seoul largely focused on security threats posed by North Korea.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin met jointly with South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Chung Eui-yong  and Minister of National Defense Suh Wook on Thursday.“We are committed to the denuclearization of North Korea, reducing the threat that DPRK poses to the United States and our allies, and improving the lives of all Koreans, including the people of North Korea, who continue to suffer, widespread and systematic abuses there,” Blinken said during a press event, using the abbreviation for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.South Korea hosts roughly 28,000 American soldiers, and during a ceremony this week, the two countries signed an agreement over the cost of stationing these forces, which had been a source of friction between Seoul and Washington during the final years of the Trump administration.Secretary Austin, a retired U.S. Army general, said the alliance remains “ironclad.”“The United States remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of (South) Korea, using the full range of U.S. capabilities including our extended deterrent,” Austin said.The American officials are representing the Biden administration during its first Cabinet-level overseas trip, which included meetings in Tokyo earlier this week. But the stop in South Korea comes after four years of an often-frayed relations between Washington and Seoul that the new U.S. president appears eager to repair, analysts say.Hee-jin Koo, a research fellow with the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, said the trip to the region by Blinken and Austin is a “turning point” for the United States and its allies.The secretaries’ visits could improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo but also mend fences between the White House and South Korea’s president, Moon Jae – which Koo says was sometimes “left out” of the Trump administration’s North Korean engagement.“So it is a reconnection between the U.S. administration and the Moon administration,” Koo told VOA.But even under new U.S. leadership, there are still differing views on how best to re-engage Pyongyang that the allies will need to resolve, Koo added.“South Korea is rather torn currently, it is trying to do a balancing act between trying to restore frayed inter-Korean relations as well as enhancing its U.S.-South Korea alliance,” she said.Washington says it has tried to open-up dialogue with North Korea, reaching out to its Mission to the United Nations in New York as well as through other back channels and has received no response.But, in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korea Central News Agency on Thursday, First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said that despite those attempts, her government intends to “disregard” Washington’s overtures.“No DPRK-U.S. contact and dialogue of any kind can be possible unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy towards the DPRK,” Choe wrote. “In order for a dialogue to be made, an atmosphere for both parties to exchange words on an equal basis must be created.”Choe also criticized joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises that began earlier this month as well as remarks that Secretary Blinken made while in Tokyo, where he said that Washington is considering new “pressure measures” against Pyongyang.Koo, the analyst, said Pyongyang might be signaling that it wants higher-level contact, like it received during the Trump administration.“What it wants is to have a status quo, also an easing of the current sanctions. Which has actually pinched North Korea’s economy especially amid the pandemic,” she said.The Biden administration is expected to soon unveil its official policy toward North Korea.Blinken said the strategy will include input from both South Korea and Japan. But he said China also has a shared interest in seeing North Korea end its nuclear weapons program.“China has a critical role to play in working to convince North Korea to pursue denuclearization,” Blinken said. “Virtually all of North Korea’s economic relationships, it’s trade, are with or goes through China, so it has tremendous influence.”From Seoul, the secretary of state will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, where later Thursday he will meet with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It will be the first bilateral meeting between Chinese and American officials since June.
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Top U.S. and South Korean foreign policy and defense officials have concluded talks in Seoul largely focused on security threats posed by North Korea.U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin met jointly with South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Chung Eui-yong  and Minister of National Defense Suh Wook on Thursday.“We are committed to the denuclearization of North Korea, reducing the threat that DPRK poses to the United States and our allies, and improving the lives of all Koreans, including the people of North Korea, who continue to suffer, widespread and systematic abuses there,” Blinken said during a press event, using the abbreviation for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.South Korea hosts roughly 28,000 American soldiers, and during a ceremony this week, the two countries signed an agreement over the cost of stationing these forces, which had been a source of friction between Seoul and Washington during the final years of the Trump administration.Secretary Austin, a retired U.S. Army general, said the alliance remains “ironclad.”“The United States remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of (South) Korea, using the full range of U.S. capabilities including our extended deterrent,” Austin said.The American officials are representing the Biden administration during its first Cabinet-level overseas trip, which included meetings in Tokyo earlier this week. But the stop in South Korea comes after four years of an often-frayed relations between Washington and Seoul that the new U.S. president appears eager to repair, analysts say.Hee-jin Koo, a research fellow with the Korean Peninsula Future Forum in Seoul, said the trip to the region by Blinken and Austin is a “turning point” for the United States and its allies.The secretaries’ visits could improve ties between Seoul and Tokyo but also mend fences between the White House and South Korea’s president, Moon Jae – which Koo says was sometimes “left out” of the Trump administration’s North Korean engagement.“So it is a reconnection between the U.S. administration and the Moon administration,” Koo told VOA.But even under new U.S. leadership, there are still differing views on how best to re-engage Pyongyang that the allies will need to resolve, Koo added.“South Korea is rather torn currently, it is trying to do a balancing act between trying to restore frayed inter-Korean relations as well as enhancing its U.S.-South Korea alliance,” she said.Washington says it has tried to open-up dialogue with North Korea, reaching out to its Mission to the United Nations in New York as well as through other back channels and has received no response.But, in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korea Central News Agency on Thursday, First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said that despite those attempts, her government intends to “disregard” Washington’s overtures.“No DPRK-U.S. contact and dialogue of any kind can be possible unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy towards the DPRK,” Choe wrote. “In order for a dialogue to be made, an atmosphere for both parties to exchange words on an equal basis must be created.”Choe also criticized joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises that began earlier this month as well as remarks that Secretary Blinken made while in Tokyo, where he said that Washington is considering new “pressure measures” against Pyongyang.Koo, the analyst, said Pyongyang might be signaling that it wants higher-level contact, like it received during the Trump administration.“What it wants is to have a status quo, also an easing of the current sanctions. Which has actually pinched North Korea’s economy especially amid the pandemic,” she said.The Biden administration is expected to soon unveil its official policy toward North Korea.Blinken said the strategy will include input from both South Korea and Japan. But he said China also has a shared interest in seeing North Korea end its nuclear weapons program.“China has a critical role to play in working to convince North Korea to pursue denuclearization,” Blinken said. “Virtually all of North Korea’s economic relationships, it’s trade, are with or goes through China, so it has tremendous influence.”From Seoul, the secretary of state will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, where later Thursday he will meet with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. It will be the first bilateral meeting between Chinese and American officials since June.
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