Among the missile tests fueling tensions is last month’s test of Pyongyang’s most advanced ICBM, when the missile flew over the “de facto” border and landed near South Korean waters, the first since the Korean War.
US Special Representative for North Korea, Sun Kim, held talks in Jakarta, Indonesia, with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Gunn, and Japanese Foreign Ministry official Takehiro Funakoshi.
As diplomats warned during the talks, Pyongyang is a threat to regional security.
“We will evaluate all options, including counterattack options,” said Funakosi, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.
Talks in this format have already taken place this year in Tokyo and Seoul. The meeting in Jakarta was held at the US embassy, where Sun Kim is the ambassador.
The diplomats made the pledge after their countries imposed sanctions on North Korean officials and organizations to punish Kim Jong-un’s regime for Pyongyang’s wave of weapons tests.
Pyongyang’s missile tests have heightened security cooperation between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, Funakosi said.
“We urge North Korea to respond seriously to our calls for dialogue. Our commitment to the relationship and denuclearization will remain unchanged,” the Japanese diplomat said.
