US, Japan, South Korea hold talks, “strongly condemn” North Korea’s missile launch

The United States, Japan, and South Korea “strongly oppose” any unilateral attempts to alter the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region and “strongly condemn” North Korea’s recent launches using ballistic missile technology, Voice of America reports.

The joint statement by the three countries was issued on Friday after US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met with Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Masataka Okano and South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun in Little Washington, Virginia.

The officials agreed to continue close coordination on North Korea and other challenges to regional and global stability, with plans to establish a new coordinating body to further align their policies.

US Deputy Secretary of State Campbell said ahead of the meeting at his/her farmhouse that the proposed body would likely be “some sort of secretariat,” Kyodo reported.

The three allies recognised the importance of “opposing illegal maritime claims in the South China Sea” and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. “Our basic position on Taiwan remains unchanged and we call for a peaceful resolution of issues across the strait,” the joint statement said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday inspected an artillery demonstration exercise of “super-large multiple rocket” launchers targeting South Korea, Pyongyang’s state media reported.

The development comes a day after South Korea said North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan on Thursday, and days after Pyongyang’s failed launch of a satellite rocket.

North Korea continues to pursue its nuclear and missile programmes despite criticism from the United States, Japan, South Korea and other regional allies and partners.

The United States has condemned North Korea’s launches using ballistic missile technology on May 27 and May 29, which it said were “in direct violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCR).”

The US State Department said the launches reflect North Korea’s continued “reckless behavior,” which “poses a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula, the region, and international peace and security and undermines the global nonproliferation regime.”

Meanwhile, the US and Japan have stressed the importance of a “new era of strategic global cooperation” between Washington and Tokyo, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement

Campbell also met with Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Okano Masataka and USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman on Friday in Washington, DC for the first U.S.-Japan Strategic Diplomacy and Development Dialogue.

The talks were announced by US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Kishida during their visit to Washington DC on 10 April.

The two countries reiterated the U.S. and Japanese commitments to collaborate with developing partners to address shared challenges. They also emphasized the importance of quality infrastructure and sustainability to promote economic prosperity for all.