A US diplomat urged North Korea to end its test-firing of missiles and return to the weapons talks, saying the launches are “counterproductive” to denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.
Sung Kim met with South Korea officials about President Kim Jong Un’s recent missile tests and told reporters on Sunday that the US was committed to a “sustained and substantive diplomacy” with North Korea.
“Our goal remains the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” Kim said.
“That’s why Pyongyang’s recent ballistic missile test, one of several in the past six weeks, is concerning and counterproductive to making progress toward a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula,” he said.
“We call on the DPRK to cease these provocations and other destabilizing activities, and instead, engage in dialogue,” Kim said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, adding the US “harbors no hostile intent toward the DPRK.”
North Korea last Tuesday fired one and possibly two submarine-launched ballistic missiles — the eighth test-firing this year.
The South Korea military detected the launch of one missile, while Japan said the hermit nation fired two rockets.
The launch marked the first underwater test-firing since October 2019.
A submarine launch would give North Korea the capability to move the missiles closer to their target while preventing them from being easily detected.
Noh Kyu-duk, Kim’s South Korean counterpart, said the two diplomats had an “in-depth” talk about formally declaring an end to the 1950-1953 Korean War that concluded in an armistice instead of a peace treaty.
Former President Donald Trump held three summits with North Korea’s Kim, but they ultimately ended in stalemate when Kim demanded that sanctions be eased before he would reduce his arsenal.
With Post wires