A senior US diplomat urged North Korea to end its “worrisome and counterproductive” missile test and resume negotiations.
Kim Sung, a senior U.S. official in charge of North Korea affairs, made the above speech after meeting with South Korean officials on Sunday. During the meeting, the two sides discussed North Korea’s recent missile tests, including the first underwater ballistic missile launched in two years.
These tests come at a time when the nuclear impeachment between the United States and North Korea is in a long stalemate.
Kim told reporters, “We call on North Korea to stop these provocations and other destabilizing activities and turn to dialogue.”
He said: “We are still preparing to meet with North Korea without preconditions. We have made it clear that the United States is not hostile to North Korea.”
Last Tuesday, North Korea launched a new type of ballistic missile from a submarine in the fifth round of weapons tests conducted in recent weeks. South Korean officials said that this submarine-launched missile appears to be in the early stages of development.
Nevertheless, this is still the first underwater launch test conducted by North Korea since October 2019, and it is also the most notable one since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January.
Missiles launched from submarines are more difficult to detect in advance, which will provide North Korea with a secondary retaliatory attack capability.
Kim said that the launch violated a number of resolutions imposed by the UN Security Council on North Korea and “posed a threat to North Korea’s neighbors and the international community.”
He also called the test “worrisome and will have the opposite impact on the lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.”
So far, North Korea has rejected the U.S. proposal, accusing the U.S. and South Korea of talking about diplomatic solutions on the surface and secretly using military activities to increase tensions.
On Thursday, North Korea also accused the United States of overreacting to its “defensive” submarine-launched ballistic missile test and questioned the sincerity of the United States in proposing negotiations.
A spokesperson for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The United States condemns us for developing and testing the same system as the weapon system it has or is developing. This is obviously a double standard. After showing that it is not hostile to us, such words and deeds will only increase sincerity to them. Doubts.”
The spokesperson said that if the United States chooses the wrong behavior, they may face “more severe and serious consequences.” He also warned not to “play with time bombs.”
South Korea’s special envoy for nuclear issues Lu Kuide also stated that Sunday’s talks with Kim Sung included “serious” discussions on South Korea’s proposal to officially end the state of war. Strictly speaking, the state of war in South Korea has existed since the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
South Korean officials viewed such a statement as a gesture of good faith to initiate negotiations.
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