US Envoy Urges North Korea To End 'Provocation'

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH- JAMES KENNY

JAKARTA - North Korea's recent ballistic missile test is a "worrying and counterproductive" move to efforts to reduce tensions, and Pyongyang needs to engage in dialogue, the United States' envoy to South Korea said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his South Korean counterpart in Seoul, US Special Representative Sung Kim said the United States was committed to exploring "substantive and sustainable diplomacy" with North Korea.

"Our goal remains to complete the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Kim said.

"Therefore, Pyongyang's recent ballistic missile test, one of several in the past six weeks, is alarming and counterproductive to progress towards sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula."

So far, Pyongyang has rejected US offers and accused Washington and Seoul of talking about diplomacy and escalating tensions at the same time as their own military activities.

On Thursday, October 21, North Korea said the United States was overreacting to a test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile that North Korea calls self-defense. The North also questioned Washington's sincerity in offering talks.

The launch violates a number of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and poses a threat to North Korea's neighbors and the international community, Kim said. "We call on the DPRK to stop these provocations, and other destabilizing activities, and participate in the dialogue," he said. He uses DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) to refer to North Korea. "We remain ready to meet with the DPRK without preconditions and we have made it clear that the US has no ill will towards the DPRK."

South Korea's envoy on nuclear affairs, Noh Kyu-duk, said talks with Kim on Sunday included "serious" discussions about Seoul's proposal to formally declare an end to wartime. weapons -- not with a peace treaty. South Korean officials saw such declarations as a form of goodwill to initiate dialogue. Kim said Washington was discussing steps to make progress with North Korea, including proposals for an end to South Korea's wartime period and humanitarian aid projects.