Top South Korean, US and Japanese military officers urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities that threaten regional security, as the three nations flew advanced warplanes for a joint exercise in a show of force against the North.
The development came yesterday, as Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov was to travel to North Korea amid booming military and other cooperation between the two countries that have raised concerns among their neighbors.
During their regular meeting in Seoul yesterday, the chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff from South Korea, the US and Japan discussed North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and Russia’s potential transfer of military technology to North Korea in return.
Photo: The South Korean Ministry of National Defense via AP
“They urged the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] DPRK to immediately cease all unlawful activities to destabilize the Korean Peninsula, the Indo-Pacific and beyond, and pledged to continue working together to respond to the DPRK’s threats,” the three top military officers said in a joint statement.
North Korea and Russia have grown sharply closer in recent years, with North Korea supplying thousands of troops and ammunitions to Russia in return for economic and military assistance.
Seoul, Washington and their partners worry Moscow might provide Pyongyang with sensitive technologies that can enhance its nuclear and missile programs as well.
The three joint chiefs of staff — South Korea’s Kim Myung-soo, the US’ Dan Caine and Japan’s Yoshida Yoshihide — discussed various ways to deepen their cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the region, the joint statement said.
Also yesterday, the three countries staged a trilateral aerial drill in international waters off South Korea’s southern Jeju Island. The training, which involves the US’ nuclear-capable B-52H bomber, is meant to improve deterrence and response capabilities against North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile programs, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense said.
Over the past few years, South Korea, the US and Japan have been expanding or restarting their regular military training exercises to cope with North Korea’s enlarging nuclear arsenal. North Korea views such US-led drills as invasion rehearsals and often responds with missile tests.
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