US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday opened a visit to crisis-riven South Korea, where he will seek delicately to encourage continuity with the policies, but not tactics, of the impeached president.

The JCS said the South Korean military has heightened surveillance for additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture to share info with the U.S. and Japan.

North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Monday, South Korea's military said, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul amid a political crisis in the country.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed confidence in South Korea’s acting leader as the two nations reaffirmed their security alliance and combat readiness against North Korea at a time when Seoul is struggling to restore political stability.

The United States “has confidence in the resilience of South Korea’s democracy and the strength of its institutions,” the U.S. Secretary of State said in Seoul.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met South Korea’s acting leader Choi Sang-mok in Seoul on Monday. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean investigators sought an extension of a warrant to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, as visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed confidence in the key Asian ally's handling of the political turmoil.

The launch event came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Seoul for talks with South Korean allies over the North Korean nuclear threat and other issues.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said in an extensive report Sunday that at least 838 Palestinians -- including 173 children -- have been killed by Israeli fire and over 6,700 have been injured in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

During this sensitive time of Seoul’s political turmoil, Blinken’s much-awaited visit to South Korea is the last gift that the Biden administration wants to offer its ally.

With less than two weeks to go in his job, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Asia. Today he's in Tokyo, after an earlier stop in South Korea that came with a surprise. HPRʻs Bill Dorman has more in todayʻs Asia Minute.