TOKYO (AP) 鈥 Senior officials from Japan, the U.S. and South Korea condemned North Korea over its recent ICBM-class ballistic missile launches and vowed to step up their trilateral cooperation to strengthen deterrence and sanctions against the North, while stressing the need for dialogue with Pyongyang.
Their meeting Thursday in the central Japanese city of Karuizawa comes days after North Korea鈥檚 solid-fuel last week, which landed in the water off the western coast of Japan鈥檚 northern main island of Hokkaido and one day after the launch of two missiles on Wednesday.
The U.S. special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, also said that the United States was 鈥渨orking hard鈥 to gather information about an American soldier who fled to the North earlier this month. The U.S. was seeking to ensure his safety and return him home, Kim said.
Pvt. , 23, had been held in South Korea on assault charges and was released on July 10 after serving his time. He was taken to the airport Monday but did not board his flight home. Instead, he joined a tourist trip to the border and bolted to the North Korean side.
Kim said he and his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Foreign Ministry, and South Korea鈥檚 Kim Gunn, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, were to also discuss their leaders鈥 summit planned for next month in the United States.
In his opening remarks, Japan鈥檚 Funakoshi said Tokyo seeks to further strengthen the three-way security cooperation to enhance deterrence and implement sanctions against the North over its missile advancement in violation to the United Naitons' Security Council resolutions. However, he also stressed the need for dialogue with the North.
He reiterated that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un 鈥渨ithout any preconditions鈥 to resolve the decades-old issue of North Korea's .
Sung Kim said the United States had 鈥渘o hostile intent鈥 and that 鈥渨e are willing and ready to sit down at the negotiating table to work through our differences.鈥
South Korea's Kim said the three officials were to affirm their intent for dialogue with North Korea, while discussing ways to strengthen 鈥渃lose communication to bring North Korea back to the path to denuclearization and to encourage China's constructive role.鈥
He noted the start of this week's launch of a nuclear consultation between Seoul and Washington, saying North Korea 鈥渦ndermined its own security鈥, while its attempt to intimidate the two allies only upgraded their cooperation on nuclear deterrence.
