Intensified Confrontation Over Additional Sanctions on North Korea: 'South Korea-US-Japan VS North Korea-China-Russia'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The confrontation between 'South Korea, the U.S., and Japan VS North Korea, China, and Russia' is intensifying over additional international sanctions against North Korea.

While the three countries of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan have strengthened their cooperation following the failure to adopt additional UN sanctions against North Korea, China and Russia have criticized the U.S. and the international community's attempts to strengthen sanctions on North Korea.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 27th (local time), the day after the UN Security Council's additional sanctions proposal against North Korea failed, the foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan targeted North Korea, China, and Russia in a joint statement.

It is considered unusual that the foreign ministers of the three countries expressed their position only in the form of a joint statement rather than as an outcome document of the meeting.

The three foreign ministers previously held a meeting in Hawaii in February during the Moon Jae-in administration and issued a statement condemning North Korea's ballistic missile provocations and urging dialogue.

At that time, it was the first joint statement issued after a meeting in five years since February 2017.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Above all, the three foreign ministers strongly condemned North Korea's recent ballistic missile test launches and urged North Korea to return to negotiations.

Foreign Minister Park Jin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi issued a joint statement announcing their stance on North Korea's missile provocations.

On the 25th (Korean time), while President Joe Biden was returning from his first visit to South Korea and Japan, North Korea launched three missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and a short-range ballistic missile known as the North Korean version of the Iskander (KN-23).

In the statement, the three ministers said, "South Korea, the U.S., and Japan strongly condemn North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches and pledge to strengthen trilateral cooperation toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and full implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions," adding, "We emphasize our continued openness to meeting with North Korea without preconditions."

They pointed out, "Since September last year, North Korea has significantly increased the frequency and scale of ballistic missile launches," and said, "These ballistic missile launches violate multiple Security Council resolutions and pose a serious threat to regional and international security."

They also urged, "We call on North Korea to comply with its obligations under Security Council resolutions and immediately cease actions that violate international law, escalate tensions, cause regional instability, and threaten the peace and security of all countries."

Furthermore, they stated, "We are committed to advancing trilateral security cooperation," emphasizing, "The U.S. reaffirmed its firm defense commitments to South Korea and Japan, including extended deterrence."

The ministers continued with criticisms seemingly aimed at China and Russia. They expressed "deep regret that despite the support of 13 Security Council members, the UN Security Council failed to adopt a resolution responding to North Korea's blatant and repeated violations of Security Council resolutions."

At the Security Council meeting held in New York the previous day, a resolution for additional sanctions against North Korea was discussed, but despite 13 out of 15 members voting in favor, the resolution was not adopted due to opposition from permanent members China and Russia.

Considering this, it is interpreted that the three countries expressed regret toward China and Russia, who cast opposing votes.

China and Russia clearly expressed their opposition to the push for additional sanctions against North Korea at the UN Security Council.

China and Russia's opposition was clear even before the vote. Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun told reporters before the Security Council meeting, "I do not think additional sanctions will help address the current situation," arguing that they could rather worsen the situation.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated publicly after the vote, "Strengthening sanctions against North Korea is not only useless but also very dangerous in terms of humanitarian consequences related to such measures." He also mentioned that the current COVID-19 situation in North Korea is complicated and should be taken into consideration.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.