“Violation of Security Council resolutions” warning… Official: “I’ll have more to say in a few days.”
Pay attention to the passage that states “We will keep pace with South Korea while closely cooperating with the US”
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(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Sang-heon = US President Joe Biden criticized North Korea’s recent ballistic missile test launch on the 21st (local time).
It was during a video summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on that day.
“The two leaders condemned North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launch in violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” the White House said in a press release shortly following the US-Japan summit.
Although no direct upbringing or remarks were made public, this is the first time this year that President Biden has responded to North Korea’s armed protests, which have become more frequent in the new year and are raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea, which has launched four ballistic missiles this year alone, made a strong announcement on the 19th that it would lift the suspension of nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launches in time for a press conference on the first anniversary of President Biden’s inauguration.
However, President Biden did not speak of North Korea throughout the conference.
In the Q&A process, because of the Ukraine crisis and domestic issues, there were no questions regarding North Korea itself, but President Biden focused on domestic issues in all of his remarks.
In a situation in which North Korea’s successive armed protests were defined as ‘attracting attention’, President Biden was also interpreted as a will not to get involved in North Korea’s intentions.
Of course, the Biden administration has sounded warning bells, such as stating that it “denounces” North Korea every time it test-fires a ballistic missile and mentioning sanctions.
President Biden’s stance toward North Korea at a meeting with Prime Minister Kishida on the same day can also be seen as an extension of that. As the supreme leader of the United States, he sent a warning message to North Korea, emphasizing that the ballistic missile test was in violation of UN Security Council resolutions that forbade it.
President Biden directly warned in March last year that North Korea’s first ballistic missile launch under the Biden administration violated UN Security Council resolutions and that “if it chooses to escalate tensions, there will be a corresponding response.”
In addition to these warnings, President Biden has maintained this stance ever since he unveiled his North Korea policy at the end of April, centered on diplomacy and dialogue.
Afterwards, North Korea held two ballistic missile demonstrations in September and once in October, but President Biden did not directly respond.
President Biden’s warning to North Korea on that day can be seen as evidence that he is concerned regarding North Korea’s recent moves, even though the US-Japan summit was a trigger.
It is also noteworthy that the leaders of the United States and Japan promised close coordination with North Korea and stated that they would also keep pace with South Korea.
In the meantime, Japan has expressed a hard-line stance on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and has put pressure on the United States to implement it.
On the other hand, the Moon Jae-in administration has maintained the principle of not letting go of the string of dialogue with North Korea.
Considering this, it can be interpreted as strongly suggesting that President Biden will continue to focus on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue and diplomacy rather than turning to a strong attack on North Korea.
As if to support this, a high-ranking US official said at a telephone briefing immediately following the summit meeting, “The two countries strongly condemned North Korea’s provocations and made it clear that diplomacy was ready.”
The US government has repeatedly publicly sent out a position to come to the dialogue saying that it has no hostile intentions to North Korea, but North Korea has rather raised the level of tension rather than responding. Moreover, it has recently hinted at the resumption of nuclear and ICBM test launches.
As a result, there are speculations that the US government will not publicly and officially disclose the US position or countermeasures.
This is because the declaration of resumption of nuclear tests and ICBM test launches might act as a direct threat to the United States.
“I think President Biden has made it clear that he will work closely with South Korea and Japan on follow-up measures to prevent a possible North Korean provocation,” a senior US official said.
The US’s follow-up move is noteworthy as it hinted at the possibility of raising the level of warning that it has been given so far or taking additional measures such as new sanctions once morest North Korea.
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2022/01/22 04:37 Send
