Blinken calls S. Korean foreign minister to explain his trip to China

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with his South Korean counterpart to explain the outcome of his recent trip to China, a state department spokesperson said Friday.

Blinken also reaffirmed US commitment to the South Korea-US alliance in his call with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, according to department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

"The secretary updated Foreign Minister Park on his discussions with PRC officials on a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including the DPRK's increasingly destabilizing actions," the spokesperson said of the call in a press release, referring to China by its official name, the People's Republic of China.

"The secretary reaffirmed with Foreign Minister Park the importance of the U.S.-ROK alliance in sustaining peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond," he added.

ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's formal name.

Blinken took a two-day visit to Beijing at the start of this week for talks with his Chinese counterparts.

The top US diplomat earlier sent his Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink to South Korea to debrief Seoul officials about his trip to China. (Yonhap)