US, allies vow pressure on N. Korea after new missile launch
US vice-president Kamala Harris and leaders from Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Canada vowed to pressure North Korea as they held urgent talks on Pyongyang’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Hours after North Korea launched the missile, which Japan said was capable of striking the US mainland, Harris met the leaders of close US partners on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok.
“We strongly condemn these actions and we again call for North Korea to stop further unlawful, destabilising acts,” Harris told reporters at the start of the talks.
“On behalf of the United States, I reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific alliances,” she said, using another term for the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan said the missile landed in its waters.
The launch follows weeks of spiralling tensions with North Korea, which US intelligence believes is preparing a seventh nuclear test.
A White House statement on the Bangkok talks said that the six leaders also warned of a “strong and resolute response” if North Korea – officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – carries out the nuclear test.
The leaders agreed “that the path to dialogue remains open for the DPRK, and they called on the DPRK to abandon needless provocation and to return to serious and sustained diplomacy”, the statement said.
In a veiled reference to China, Pyongyang’s primary lifeline, the statement also called on all members of the United Nations to ‘fully implement’ Security Council resolutions, which imposed broad sanctions on North Korea.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the leaders also wanted an emergency session of the UN Security Council – where China and Russia in May vetoed a USled bid to tighten sanctions on North Korea.
“This is about the globe coming together to condemn the actions of North Korea, to stand up for peace and security in our region,” Albanese told Australian reporters.
But Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, speaking at the meeting, acknowledged concerns that North Korea is ignoring pressure.
“There is the possibility that North Korea will launch further missiles,” Kishida said.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said that the ‘brazen’ missile launch must ‘never be tolerated’.
“The international community must respond in a resolute manner,” Han said.
It was the latest meeting on North Korea.
US President Joe Biden met Sunday with Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Cambodia.
They issued a similar warning against a nuclear test – prompting North Korea to denounce the three-way meeting as evidence of US hostility.
Friday’s meeting showed no backing down by the allies, which added three more countries to their common front.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he joined allies in “condemning in the strongest terms” the “continued irresponsible actions of North Korea”.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised her country’s “ongoing response and strength of response”, saying she understood the ‘anxiety’ of Japan and South Korea.
Despite the pressure campaign, the Biden administration believes that China ultimately is the country with the greatest chance of pressuring North Korea.
Biden met Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali and voiced confidence that Beijing shared basic goals on North Korea – one of the world’s most isolated and poorest nations.
“I’m confident China’s not looking for North Korea to engage in further escalation,” Biden told reporters afterwards.