The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan emphasized their “resolve” against North Korea’s “grave” security threats and its growing military cooperation with Russia during a meeting in Tokyo on Thursday, the State Department said.
Lee Jun-il, director general for North Korean nuclear affairs at Seoul’s foreign ministry, held the talks with U.S. Senior Official for North Korea Jung Pak and Hiroyuki Namazu, director general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs at Tokyo’s foreign ministry.
Their talks came amid persistent tensions caused by Pyongyang’s continued push for its nuclear and missile programs and its tough rhetoric against Seoul and Washington.
“The three sides underscored their continued resolve in the face of the grave security threats posed by the DPRK’s provocations, unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, and deepening military cooperation with Russia,” the department said in a release.
DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic P
eople’s Republic of Korea.
They underscored the importance of maintaining close trilateral cooperation in addressing North Korean threats, promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and restarting dialogue and diplomacy with the reclusive regime, according to the department.
They also stressed the value of cooperation in addressing human rights and humanitarian challenges created by North Korea, including protections for North Korean asylum seekers and the need for the immediate resolution of the issues of abductions, detainees and unrepatriated prisoners of war, it said.
Separately, Pak met with Liu Xiaoming, China’s special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs in Tokyo.
She reiterated concerns over the forcible repatriation of North Koreans, including asylum seekers, to North Korea, and called on Beijing to uphold its non-refoulement obligations.
Source: Yonhap News Agency