US, South Korea, Japan Condemn North Korean Missile Tests During Talks

Japan's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori, South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and U.S Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman pose for a photo prior their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, on June 8, 2022. Jeon Heon-Kyun/Pool via Reuters

Senior officials from South Korea, the United States, and Japan have condemned recent North Korean missile tests and urged Pyongyang to engage in diplomatic dialogue.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman took part in the three-way meeting with the No. 2 diplomats of South Korea and Japan on June 8 in Seoul, South Korea. The trilateral meetings came days after North Korea conducted its latest missile tests and as the authoritarian country appeared to prepare for what would be its first nuclear test since 2017.

South Korea Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori, and Sherman called North Korea’s recent missile tests “serious, unlawful” provocations.

They urged Pyongyang to abide by international sanctions and immediately cease actions that would “escalate tensions or destabilise the region,” a joint statement said.

The trio also pledged to ramp up trilateral security cooperation to curb North Korean threats, with Sherman reaffirming U.S. defense commitments, including extended deterrence.

They also urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to return to negotiations, stressing that “a path to serious and sustained dialogue remains open,” the statement said, referring to North Korea by its official name. They also renewed offers of international assistance to fight against COVID-19.

The three-way meeting of the diplomats was the first of such meetings since South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May.

It also marks the first time a Japanese vice-minister officially visited South Korea since late 2017, amid strained bilateral ties over issues that include Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula and wartime labor.

In addition to the trilateral meeting, Sherman met with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to discuss economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and promoting resilient supply chains in semiconductors and other key products, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

They also discussed a joint commitment by the two countries to address “global health security and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ensuring our countries are taking concrete steps to meet our commitments to combat climate change.”

Sherman noted on Twitter that she met with South Korean officials and addressed the “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and North Korea’s “unlawful ballistic missile launches and the need for Pyongyang to engage in dialogue.”