Washington: US Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Asia amid tensions with North Korea and China. The trip is expected to be dominated by regional tensions over China’s territorial ambitions and the US citizen jailed in North Korea.
Kerry will first reach Seoul for talks on North Korea. The discussions will be around Pyongyang scrapping an invitation for discussions on the fate of jailed US tour operator Kenneth Bae, sentenced to 15 years’ of hard labour. The US diplomat arriving on Thursday, has north as its top agenda, also as Seoul and Washington prepare for joint military drills denounced by Pyongyang.
From Seoul, Kerry will travel to Beijing, Pyongyang’s main ally. Kerry is likely to highlight the need to tackle climate change by the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases. But he will also seek to clarify tensions over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Kerry’s trip – his fifth to North and South East Asia since taking office a year ago – will also take him to Indonesia, before he heads to Abu Dhabi. He is due back in Washington on February 18.