Yoon: "North Korea's Provocation... A Direct Challenge to World Peace and the Normative Order" (Comprehensive)

AP4 Meeting... "Atlantic and Pacific Security Cannot Be Separated"
"Cooperation Between AP4, Indo-Pacific Region, and NATO More Important Than Ever"

President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 12th (local time) that "North Korea's provocations are a direct challenge to peace in the Asia-Pacific region, global peace, and the rules-based order." This came in response to North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the East Sea that day, emphasizing the establishment of a strong collective security posture between AP4 (Asia-Pacific Four partner countries) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

That afternoon, President Yoon hosted the AP4 (South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand) summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, saying, "We cannot overlook these provocations, and through strong international response and unity, we must respond to North Korea's reckless actions."

President Yoon Suk-yeol, attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, is speaking at the Korea-Japan-Australia-New Zealand Four Countries (AP4) summit held at a hotel in Vilnius on the 12th (local time).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

This summit was the second AP4 meeting following the first one held during the NATO summit in Madrid last June. Attendees included President Yoon, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. The leaders highly appreciated the enhanced communication and cooperation among the four countries since the first AP4 summit last year to strengthen freedom, peace, prosperity, and the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region.

At the meeting, President Yoon criticized, "North Korea's provocations are a direct challenge to peace in the Asia-Pacific region, global peace, and the rules-based order." The leaders unanimously condemned North Korea's ICBM launch that occurred early that morning and agreed to respond firmly to such provocations that threaten regional peace and global security.

Prior to the summit, President Yoon said in his remarks, "Our AP4 must establish a strong collective security posture in solidarity with NATO." He also called for institutionalizing the framework of NATO cooperation and for AP4 to take a leading role in regional security in the Indo-Pacific region.

President Yoon also mentioned in his meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg the day before that "a tailored partnership program (ITPP) between NATO and South Korea should be created to institutionalize the cooperation framework." This reflects the judgment that close cooperation between NATO and Indo-Pacific countries such as South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand is more important than ever, given that Atlantic security and Indo-Pacific security cannot be separated.

The four countries also agreed to continue supporting Ukraine. Additionally, they plan to closely link cooperation between NATO and the Indo-Pacific region by strengthening collaboration with Pacific island countries, building resilient and diversified supply chains, and enhancing cybersecurity cooperation. The Presidential Office explained, "President Yoon's hosting of this AP4 summit is evaluated as contributing to strengthening solidarity among like-minded countries sharing values within the Indo-Pacific region and further solidifying cooperation at the AP4 level."

Meanwhile, on the same day, President Yoon chaired an emergency National Security Council (NSC) Standing Committee meeting via video conference from Lithuania, received a situation report from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and instructed response measures. President Yoon stated, "There will be consequences for North Korea's illegal actions," and urged, "We must further expand security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, including real-time missile warning information sharing and trilateral maritime missile defense exercises."

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