The three nations in a joint statement have called on North Korea to engage in dialogue and stop the unlawful activities. All three of the countries said that they had no hostile intent towards North Korea and they were open to meeting without preconditions as well.
Anthony Blinken, the United Secretary of State had met with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea, on Sunday, in Hawaii to discuss the threats posed by the Nuclear-armed nation after North Korea conducted a series of missile tests earlier this year. At a news conference after the meeting between the three nations, he said that North Korea was in a phase of provocation and the three nations were against the recent missile launches that were conducted in January.
After Blinken’s talks with the foreign minister of Japan, Yoshimasa Hayashi and South Korean Foreign Minister, Chung Euiyong, he said that the three nations were united in their approach and their determination. He said that the three nations were consulting very closely on the next steps they might take in response to Pyongyang but there were no specifics announced.
Hayashi had also told the Japanese news reporters that the three nations had a very fruitful discussion on North Korean matters. He denied any more details on additional matters they may take. North Korea has had a long history of using provocations including missile or nuclear tests to seek international concessions. The latest tests, in January, had come as the economy of North Korea had already been battered by decades of mismanagement by the government and crippling sanctions imposed by the United States of America, was hit by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
These seven tests that were conducted last month are being viewed as an attempt to pressurize the President of the United States to ease the imposed sanctions on North Korea. Although the Biden administration has not shown any willingness to ease the sanctions as of now, they have been offered open-ended talks. North Korea has turned down the offers by the United States to resume diplomacy and has demanded that it would not talk unless the US drops the hostile policies against Pyongyang.
The nuclear tests conducted by North Korea have a technical aspect that allows the nation to hone its weapons arsenal. One of the latest missiles that were recently tested was the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which is capable of reaching the United States territory of Guam. This is the longest distance weapon North Korea has tested since the end of 2017. North Korea seems to have paused the testing of nuclear weapons during the Winter Olympics in China, which is also the most important ally for an economic lifeline. As per some analysts, the nation will unleash weapons testing as soon as the Olympics will end.
