Top nuclear envoys from Japan, South Korea and the US on Monday strongly denounced the advancement of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
This statement came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang.
“The US, ROK (South Korea), and Japan condemn in the strongest possible terms deepening military cooperation between the DPRK (North Korea) and Russia, including continued arms transfers from the DPRK to Russia that prolong the suffering of the Ukrainian people, violate multiple UN Security Council Resolutions, and threaten stability in both Northeast Asia and Europe,” the three envoys said in a joint statement after their phone talks.
The conversation was attended by Hiroyuki Namazu, Director General of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Cho Koo-rae, South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister for Strategy and Intelligence and Jun Pak, US Deputy Special Representative for North Korea.
The joint stat
ement came after Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed the “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty after their summit talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday, which included military assistance by all means if either is attacked.” The three countries said the advancement of the Pyongyang-Moscow partnership, as highlighted by the signing of their comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, “should be of grave concern to anyone with an interest in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and upholding the global non-proliferation regime and supporting the people of Ukraine,” according to the statement.
They also reaffirmed their intention to further strengthen diplomatic and security cooperation to counter the threats posed by North Korea and to prevent the escalation of the situation.
In addition, the US confirmed that its commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad.” The three officials reconfirmed that the path to dialogue remains open and urge the North to
cease further provocations and return to negotiations, the statement added.
Source: Kuwait News Agency