The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan held trilateral talks here on Friday during which they called for the international community to repatriate all North Koreans working overseas in line with U.N. sanctions over the North's provocations.
South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Gunn, met with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, respectively, at the foreign ministry building in Seoul and discussed joint efforts to counter growing nuclear and missile threats from Pyongyang. They last held such a trilateral session in December in Jakarta.
In a statement, Seoul, Washington and Tokyo urged the international community to repatriate all North Korean workers abroad and called on the North to abide by its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
"We reiterate with concern that overseas DPRK IT workers continue using forged identities and nationalities to evade UNSC sanctions and earn income abroad that funds the DPRK's unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs," they said.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
Under U.N. sanctions, all member states are required to repatriate any North Koreans earning income in their jurisdiction.
The three envoys also strongly condemned North Korea's recent missile provocations amid renewed tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
"We express deep regret that the DPRK continues to ignore the hardship of its people, choosing instead to pour its scarce resources into its WMD and ballistic missile programs in clear violation of multiple United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions," the envoys said in their first joint statement since the launch of the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration in May last year.
Kim Gunn (L), South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, poses for a photo with Sung Kim (C), U.S. special envoy for North Korea, and Takehiro Funakoshi, head of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, during their talks on North Korea at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Dec. 13, 2022. (Yonhap)
Speaking to reporters at the start of the meeting, Kim stressed that Pyongyang's "nuclear obsession is nothing more than a self-destructive boomerang that destroys the future of all North Koreans."
"North Korea is misguiding its people to believe that nuclear weapons are a magic wand that can solve all of its problems," he said, pointing out that the North's unlawful nuclear development will only shatter its economy and undermine security.
He stressed that the three countries will "effectively counter" North Korea's future provocations and cut the revenue streams that fund its illegal activities, as the reclusive regime is gearing up to reopen its borders.
"In this vein, I am happy to announce that today we are issuing a joint statement highlighting the importance of fully implementing the U.N. Security Council resolutions, including the repatriation of all North Korean overseas workers," he said.
He said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "failed" to keep a pledge he made in 2012 that North Koreans will never have to tighten their belts again. The envoy also criticized the North for taking a "cry-after-bully strategy" by threatening to use nuclear weapons and then "shamelessly" pretending to be a victim "in false hopes to earn sympathy."
Source: Yonhap News Agency