Pelosi does not mention Taiwan to South Korea as China launches retaliatory missile strikes

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke to reporters in South Korea on Thursday but did not mention her recent trip to Taiwan.

Pelosi flew to South Korea directly after her delegation’s stop in Taiwan. His time in the disputed island region spawned a harsh series of threats and military exercises by the People’s Liberation Army of China.

The military is reportedly practicing sea blockades and missile launches as well as ground combat. The Chinese military is using advanced technology in the exercises, including J-20 stealth fighter jets and DF-17 hypersonic missiles.

After visiting Taiwan, Pelosi and other members of her congressional delegation flew to South Korea, a key US ally where about 28,500 US troops are deployed, on Wednesday evening as part of an Asian tour which included previous stops in Singapore and Malaysia.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: CHINA, PELOSI AND IDEAS OF AUGUST

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attends a joint press announcement after meeting with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin Pyo at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday, Dec. August 2022.
(Kim Min-Hee/Pool Photo via AP)

Pelosi met with South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin Pyo and other senior members of Parliament on Thursday. After that hour-long meeting, Pelosi spoke of the bilateral alliance, forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War, and legislative efforts to strengthen ties, but did not directly mention her visit to Taiwan nor the Chinese protests.

“We also come to tell you that a friendship, a relationship that began out of urgency and safety, many years ago, has become the warmest of friendships,” Pelosi said at a joint press conference with Kim “We want to advance security, the economy and governance in an inter-parliamentary way.”

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is greeted by US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel upon her arrival at US Yokota Air Force Base in Fussa, outside Tokyo, on August 4, 2022.
(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Pelosi and her delegation later spoke by phone with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol about the alliance, foreign policy and other issues.

KIM JONG UN THREATS TO USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGAINST US, SOUTH KOREA

Chinese military helicopters fly over Pingtan Island, one of mainland China’s closest points to Taiwan, in Fujian province on August 4, 2022.
(HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Neither Pelosi nor Kim answered questions from reporters.

PELOSI SHOULD HAVE VISIT TAIWAN YEARS AGO: FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT

The People’s Liberation Army launches joint military operations on the island of Taiwan. China resolutely defends its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
(People’s Liberation Army, China)

South Korea’s military said on Sunday it had detected the trajectories of what appeared to be shots fired by North Korea, possibly from multiple rocket launchers (MLR).

North Korea often tests MLRs during military exercises, and in recent years has also developed larger versions of these rockets. The smaller rockets and missiles are considered critical to North Korea’s plans to strike targets in South Korea in the event of a conflict.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.