The US, Japan and South Korea renewed their “resolute” pledge to seek the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea, a joint statement from the three allies released on Saturday said.
The statement came after new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held his first meetings with South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
“The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs),” it said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“They expressed their serious concerns over and the need to address together the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs, malicious cyber activities including cryptocurrency thefts, and increasing military cooperation with Russia,” it added.
The three sent a “strong warning” that they “will not tolerate any provocations or threats to their homelands,” and vowed to maintain and strengthen international sanctions against Pyongyang.
They also said they were committed to “the immediate resolution of the issues of abductees, detainees, and unrepatriated prisoners of war as well as the issue of separated families.”
Largely cut off from the world diplomatically and economically, and under a bevy of sanctions, North Korea with its ongoing nuclear weapons program has been a major thorn in the side of the US for years.
US President Donald Trump, who had a rare series of meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his first term in office, has said he would reach out again to the North Korean leader, calling Kim a “smart guy.”
Despite Trump’s diplomatic overtures, North Korea last month said that its nuclear program would continue “indefinitely.”
Pyongyang earlier this month said it would not tolerate any “provocation” by the US after Rubio called it a “rogue state” in a radio interview.
It has also slammed a visit by a US nuclear submarine to a naval base in South Korea this month as a “hostile military act.”
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
RSS