Four countries, the United States, Japan, India and Australia, condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launch. We also urged the United Nations Security Council resolutions to be observed and the immediate resolution of the abductions issue. Reporter Ahn So-young reports.
Foreign ministers of the US, India, Japan and Australia’s QUAD, a security consultative body, held a meeting in New Delhi, India on the 3rd and strongly criticized North Korea’s recent armed provocation.
[공동성명] “We condemn North Korea’s destabilising ballistic missile launches, including the launch of yet another Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on February 18, 2023 in violation of UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and urge North Korea to comply with its obligations under UNSCRs.”
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, and Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar said, “The February 18, 2023 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, ) We condemn North Korea’s ballistic missile launches that promote instability, such as launches.”
“We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and urge North Korea to abide by its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions,” he said.
Previously, North Korea fired an ICBM on the 18th of last month, followed by two short-range ballistic missiles on the 20th.
These Ministers also reaffirmed the need for an immediate resolution of the issue of abductions by the North Korean regime.
[공동성명]” We reconfirm the necessity of immediate resolution of the abductions issue. We stress the importance of addressing proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies related to North Korea in the region and beyond.”
“We emphasize the importance of addressing the proliferation of nuclear and missile technology related to North Korea in the region and beyond.”
Quad’s foreign ministers also confirmed their support for a free and open Indo-Pacific in this joint statement.
[공동성명] “We strongly support the principles of freedom, rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes without resorting to threat or use of force and freedom of navigation and overflight, and oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo, all of which are essential to the peace, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”
“We strongly support the principles of freedom and rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes without resort to threat or use of force, freedom of navigation and overflight, and we strongly support peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. We oppose any attempt to change the status quo, which is essential to the future.”
In addition, these ministers condemned Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons as unacceptable.
It has been six months since the meeting held in New York in September of last year that the quad foreign ministers gathered together.
This is Ahn So-young from VOA News.
