Blinken called S Korea to discuss China visit

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called key ally South Korea to discuss results of his visit to China this month, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Blinken told South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin he had an honest, practical and constructive dialogue with the Chinese side, and wanted to explain the results of his visit in as much detail as possible, a ministry statement said.

Blinken and Park decided to continue to communicate regarding relations with China and to urge Beijing to play a constructive role in North Korea's suspension of provocations and denuclearisation, the ministry said.

During the visit to China where Blinken met President Xi Jinping and other top officials, the two sides agreed to stabilise their intense rivalry so it does not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any major breakthrough.

Meanwhile, North Korea criticised Blinken for trying to get China to pressure Pyongyang to lay down arms, and warned that its response will grow "more overwhelmingly and aggressively" to any stronger military measures by the United States on the Korean Peninsula, state media KCNA said yesterday.

Blinken's "threats" for China to pressure Pyongyang expresses a "dangerous hegemonic mentality", KCNA said, citing a North Korean foreign ministry official.

KCNA also criticised the US for sending military assets including a nuclear-powered submarine to the Korean Peninsula, risking "peace and security".

North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its east coast last week, less than an hour after Pyongyang warned of a response to military drills by South Korean and US troops.

The isolated country is under international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

In a separate development, Blinken said yesterday he spoke with his G7 and EU counterparts after Wagner fighters took control of some military facilities in southern Russia.

"The United States will stay in close coordination with Allies and partners as the situation continues to develop," Blinken wrote on Twitter.

Blinken spoke with all of his G7 counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the State Department said.

"Secretary Blinken reiterated that support by the United States for Ukraine will not change," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a release.

The insurrection also risks leaving Russia's invasion force in Ukraine in disarray, just as Kyiv is launching its strongest counteroffensive since the war began in February last year.