US-ROK Senior Nuclear Envoys Meeting: "Will Respond Strongly to North Korean Provocations"

Quantum Chain Meeting, Strong Condemnation of North Korea's Nuclear Provocation

The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States, and Japan held a series of bilateral meetings in Seoul and strongly condemned North Korea's nuclear provocations.

On the 6th, Kim Gun, Director General for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met with Sung Kim, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy, who was visiting South Korea, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, in the morning.

The South Korean and U.S. chief nuclear envoys shared a serious assessment of the unprecedented "provocation parade" by North Korea and the resulting tense situation on the Korean Peninsula. They agreed to closely monitor the possibility of further provocations and to respond strongly under the firm South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture against any provocations.

Kim Gun, Director General for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Sung Kim, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, shake hands on the morning of the 6th at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jongno-gu, Seoul, before the Korea-U.S. senior representative talks on North Korean nuclear issues.

They also agreed on the need to strengthen pressure efforts to deter North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. In light of the possibility of North Korea opening its borders, they decided to encourage the international community to ensure thorough implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, including the repatriation of North Korean overseas workers.

Furthermore, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to enhance efforts to raise awareness among allied countries to block illegal cyber activities such as the theft of virtual assets, which are a key funding source for the North Korean regime, and the activities of North Korean overseas information technology (IT) personnel.

They also reaffirmed their consensus to lead China’s constructive role based on the recognition that progress in North Korea’s denuclearization is a shared interest of South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Before the South Korea-U.S. chief nuclear envoys’ consultation on the same day, Foreign Minister Park Jin, who met with Special Representative Sung Kim, urged seamless cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. to create a strategic environment that would compel North Korea to return to denuclearization talks.

Minister Park emphasized the importance of South Korea-U.S. cooperation on North Korean human rights issues. Representative Kim pledged to continue strengthening international cooperation to bring North Korea back to denuclearization negotiations.

After arriving in the morning, Kim Gun is also scheduled to hold a South Korea-Japan chief nuclear envoys consultation in the afternoon with Takehiro Funakoshi, Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After completing their respective bilateral consultations, the three chief nuclear envoys from South Korea, the U.S., and Japan will gather on the 7th for a trilateral meeting. The South Korea-U.S.-Japan talks are expected to focus intensively on countermeasures related to North Korean provocations during this series of consultations.

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