The foreign ministers of Japan, South Korea and the United States expressed their unity on Saturday in Honolulu in criticizing North Korea’s “destabilizing” ballistic missile launches.
After a day of meetings in Honolulu, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, condemned Pyongyang’s seven missile launches.
They called on the North Korean government to “stop its illegal activities and engage in dialogue”.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea “is in a provocation phase,” Blinken told a news conference with his peers.
“We continue to work to find ways to hold the DPRK to account,” he added, referring to North Korea by its initials.
Blinken highlighted recent sanctions against eight North Korean government individuals and entities.
The three diplomatic chiefs reiterated their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and their willingness to resume negotiations with Pyongyang, which has not responded to requests for dialogue with Washington.
“The secretary and foreign ministers emphasized that they have no hostile intentions towards the DPRK and that they remain open to meeting with the DPRK without conditions,” they said in a statement.
