SEOUL, Oct. 24 (BNA) – A senior US diplomat on Sunday urged North Korea to refrain from additional missile tests and resume nuclear diplomacy between the two countries, days after North Korea launched its first underwater ballistic missile in two years.
Sung Kim, the top US official on North Korean affairs, spoke after a meeting with South Korean officials to discuss North Korea’s recent missile tests that came amid a long-standing stalemate in nuclear diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang, the Associated Press (AP) reported. .
“We call on the DPRK to stop these provocations and other destabilizing activities, and instead, engage in dialogue,” Kim told reporters, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“We remain ready to meet the DPRK without preconditions, and we have made it clear that the United States has no hostile intent toward the DPRK,” he said.
Last Tuesday, North Korea launched a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in its fifth round of weapons tests in recent weeks.
South Korean officials said the submarine-launched missile appeared to be in an early stage of development. It was the first underwater test launched by North Korea since October 2019 and the most famous since President Joe Biden took office in January.
Submarine-launched missiles are difficult to detect in advance, and will provide North Korea with a secondary retaliatory attack capability.
Tuesday’s launch violates several UN Security Council resolutions banning any North Korean ballistic missile activity. Kim said the test poses a threat to the international community and is “alarming and counterproductive” to efforts to promote peace on the Korean peninsula.
Noh Kyu-duk, Kim’s South Korean counterpart, said the two had an “in-depth” discussion on Seoul’s push for a symbolic political declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to bring peace. Noah said he and Kim also confirmed that issues of North Korea concern could be discussed once talks resume.
US-led talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear program have largely stalled since early 2019, when a summit between then-President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed over disagreements over US-led sanctions on North Korea.
The Biden administration has repeatedly said that it is ready to meet with North Korea “anywhere, anytime” without preconditions. But North Korea says a return to talks is conditional on the United States dropping what it calls its hostile policy toward Pyongyang, an apparent reference to sanctions and regular military exercises between Washington and Seoul.
Prior to the submarine missile launch, North Korea also tested several other new weapons systems over a six-week period, including a long-range cruise missile and a hypersonic missile currently in development.
These weapons will likely put the United States’ allies, South Korea and Japan, in the crosshairs. Some experts say that North Korea may also in the coming weeks test a missile that could reach the American homeland in order to maximize the pressure campaign on the United States.
RAE