US Vice President Kamala Harris and leaders from Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada pledged to put pressure on North Korea as they held urgent talks on Friday about Pyongyang’s ICBM launch.
Hours after North Korea fired a missile that Japan said could hit the US mainland, Harris met leaders of close US partners on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms these actions and we reiterate our call on North Korea to cease further unlawful, destabilizing activities,” Harris told reporters at the start of the talks.
“On behalf of the United States, I reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific alliances,” she said.
“Together, the countries represented here will continue to urge North Korea to commit to serious and sustained diplomacy.”
Japan said the missile landed in its waters. The launch follows weeks of tensions with North Korea, which US intelligence believes is preparing for a seventh nuclear test.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who attended the meeting, warned: “There is a possibility that North Korea will launch more missiles.”
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo called the launch by the north, officially called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a “major provocation” that violated UN Security Council resolutions.
“We condemn this brazen act in the strongest possible terms and want to emphasize that such illegal activities by the DPRK will never be tolerated and the international community must respond with determination,” Han said.
– Increase pressure –
US President Joe Biden met on Sunday to discuss North Korea with Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on the sidelines of a Southeast Asia summit in Cambodia.
Together they warned of the consequences if North Korea conducts a nuclear test. Pyongyang condemned the tripartite meeting as evidence of US hostility.
On Friday, the three allies were joined by other countries in their joint campaign against the isolated state.
“These unprecedented multiple launches of ballistic missiles undermine our security. They are reckless actions,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The leaders “call on North Korea to stop this reckless activity — this provocation — and to stand by and comply with previous United Nations resolutions,” Albanese said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he joins his allies in “strongly condemning North Korea’s continued irresponsible actions”.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also took part in the talks.
Harris attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting after Biden flew home for his granddaughter’s wedding.
The Biden administration hopes to increase pressure on North Korea, but also believes that the ultimate key to persuading Pyongyang will be its key ally – China.
Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Bali on Monday and expressed confidence that Beijing shares fundamental goals regarding North Korea — one of the world’s most isolated and poorest nations.
“I am confident that China is not looking to North Korea to engage in further escalation,” Biden told reporters afterwards.
But China and Russia, whose relations with the West soured after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, vetoed a US-led proposal to tighten sanctions on North Korea at the UN Security Council in May.
Biden has offered to start a working-level dialogue with North Korea but has seen no interest from Pyongyang.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held three televised meetings with Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, which managed to ease tensions but failed to reach a lasting deal.
The United States says it will never recognize North Korea as a nuclear power, while most experts believe Pyongyang will never abandon its arsenal.
