S. Korea, U.S., Japan condemn N. Korea for ‘deliberate acts of creating tensions’

Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan strongly denounced North Korea Wednesday for deliberately escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, vowing to step up three-way coordination in response to its provocations.

The three sides made the point after a Seoul meeting among First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano, amid rising tensions following the North’s destruction of roads to the South and accusations of drone flights by the South over its capital.

The trilateral talks came a day after the North blew up cross-border roads in a move underscoring its commitment to completely sever ties with the South after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to abandon the goal of unification and treat the South as his regime’s “primary foe.”

The explosion added to the already heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the North accused the South of sending drones into the skies of Pyongyang and warned of a “horrible disaster” if such drones are sent again.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s continued nuclear and missile threats, the complete severance of inter-Korean land routes and its claims of drone intrusions as deliberate acts of creating tensions,” Kim said during a press conference.

“We will maintain a robust South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture to sternly respond to North Korea’s provocations, and agreed to strengthen security cooperation under close trilateral coordination with the U.S. and Japan,” Kim said.

Campbell said the U.S. and its two Asian allies are “alarmed” by the provocative steps taken by the North and expressed support for South Korea’s pursuit of the “ultimate peaceful reunification” of the Korean Peninsula.

The three sides also expressed deep concerns over reports that the North has sent its personnel to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine, a sign that, if confirmed, would mark a major development in the military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, apart from the suspected arms trade already highly criticized by the West.

“We do see signs of enhanced DPRK material support to Russia, which is being felt on the battlefield, both artillery shells and missiles,” Campbell said, without confirming the Ukrainian reports.

“We are still evaluating those reports. We are concerned by them,” he said.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Ukrainian media has reported that the Russian military is operating a unit consisting of some 3,000 North Korean troops. Speaking before the parliament on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his intelligence services confirmed the North’s dispatch of its soldiers to Russia.

The No. 2 diplomats also said they are pushing for another trilateral summit among the leaders of the three countries before the end of this year and that they agreed to continue making efforts to further institutionalize the trilateral cooperation framework.

In a joint statement released later, Campbell reaffirmed U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan, and strengthening extended deterrence provided through its alliances with the two countries.

Extended deterrence refers to the U.S. commitment to mobilizing all of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its ally.

The three sides expressed their commitment to a new joint mechanism for monitoring North Korean sanctions, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team formally launched hours earlier, in efforts to reinstate “comprehensive and effective” sanctions monitoring and reporting.

The statement also renewed the countries’ joint pledge to deepen their partnership on the economic security front, such as in critical and emerging technology sectors.

The leaders of the three countries declared a new chapter in their partnership at the trilateral Camp David summit in August 2023. The summit produced a series of agreements, including the “Commitment to Consult” each other in the event of a shared threat.

Wednesday’s three-way talks come about five months after the vice foreign ministers held their last meeting in Virginia in May.

Ahead of the trilateral meeting, Kim met one-on-one with Campbell, and discussed the bilateral alliance, and other regional and global issues.

Kim will have separate bilateral talks with Okano on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul briefly met with the deputy secretary and the two vice ministers, and emphasized the need for strong trilateral cooperation and a united response against the North’s provocations, Cho’s office said.