US, South Korea, Japan Pledge Cooperation to Block North Korea Missile Financing

U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Sung Kim (L), Japan Director-General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Takehiro Funakoshi (C), and South Korea Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Kim Gunn pose for photographers prior to hold trilateral meeting on North Korea at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in Tokyo on Sept. 7, 2022. Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo

South Korea, Japan, and the United States will work closely to prevent North Korea from evading international sanctions and financing its nuclear program through illegal cyber activities and other methods, according to South Korea’s government.

The three countries’ top nuclear envoys held a Dec. 13 meeting in Indonesia to discuss North Korean nuclear threats, South Korea’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

During the meeting, the envoys agreed to coordinate sanctions against North Korea and “redouble efforts” to thwart North Korea’s financing of nuclear programs through illegal activities.

North Korea’s actions present “one of the most serious security challenges in the region and beyond,” which can only be resolved with cooperation from the international community, U.S. envoy Sung Kim said.

South Korean envoy Kim Gunn said that encouraging North Korea’s closest ally, China, to help resolve the North Korean nuclear issue “will be another topic on the table,” Yonhap News Agency reported.

“Over the last 30 years, the international community stood firm on our common goal of North Korea’s denuclearization. There will not be a single scenario under which we revisit this goal,” he said. “Not in a million years.”

Violating UN Sanctions

South Korean officials claim that North Korea has been turning to cybercrime and covert ship-to-shop transfers of unauthorized goods as a way to violate 11 rounds of U.N. sanctions imposed over its repeated nuclear and missile tests since 2006.

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is launched in this undated photo released on Nov. 19, 2022, by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA via Reuters

The United States won’t hesitate to impose sanctions on any individuals involved in North Korea’s nuclear weapons development programs, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Dec. 12.

“We are always looking for individuals who would be appropriate to sanction under our various authorities, including those authorities that are targeted at the DPRK’s ballistic missile program, its nuclear weapons program,” Price said, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Beijing Urged to Rein In North Korea

North Korea test-fired dozens of missiles this year, including powerful ballistic weapons that flew over Japan. But the U.N. Security Council has failed to adopt fresh sanctions on North Korea because of opposition from China and Russia.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol last month urged the Chinese regime to use its influence to stop North Korea from conducting a nuclear test, warning that failure to do so would result in an influx of military assets in the region.

“What is sure is that China has the capability to influence North Korea, and China has the responsibility to engage in that process,” Yoon said in an interview with Reuters on Nov. 29, referring to China’s obligations as a U.N. Security Council member.

President Joe Biden said on Nov. 14 that he had urged China to use its influence to rein in North Korea’s missile launches, or the United States would have to “take certain actions that would be more defensive” in response.

U.S.-based China affairs commentator Wang He said the Kim regime and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are secretly cooperating, making it difficult for the United States to resolve North Korea’s nuclear issue.

“For the CCP, it’s very natural for them to support North Korea in developing nuclear weapons and missiles and to put on a show while collaborating behind the scenes with the Kim regime. It’s the CCP’s strategy to contain the United States,” Wang wrote in an article published in The Epoch Times last year.

Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine officer, said in a commentary published on Oct. 7 that North Korea’s actions will force the United States and Japan to use their “limited resources” against it, diverting their attention away from the situation in Taiwan.

“And this all ties into a Taiwan scenario. Whenever China decides it is done waiting for Taiwan to give up without a fight, expect North Korea to ‘make a move’ that requires serious U.S., Japanese, and South Korean attention.”

The Associated Press and Alex Wu contributed to this report.