Top US, South Korean, Japanese diplomats to discuss North Korea missile tests

By Islamuddin Sajid

ANKARA (AA) - The US secretary of state, along with the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan, will meet on Saturday in Honolulu to discuss recent North Korean missile tests that plunged the region into fresh tensions.

South Korea's Chung Eui-yong is expected to arrive in Honolulu, the capital city of the US state of Hawaii, on Friday, for trilateral meetings with US' Antony Blinken and Japan's Oshimasa Hayashi, reported the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

Ahead of the meeting, the three countries' special representatives for North Korea met on Thursday and agreed to engage with Pyongyang to find a peaceful way to end the growing tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

"We had a very good discussion -- very detailed, substantive discussion about recent developments," the agency quoted Washington's special envoy as saying after the meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts.

"I think there is very strong consensus among the three countries on the importance of trilateral cooperation and coordination on all aspects of our DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) policy," added Sung Kim. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is North Korea's official country name.

In January, North Korea conducted seven confirmed missile tests, including one of a newly developed hypersonic missile.

On Thursday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in extended another offer for dialogue to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with whom he said he was willing to hold a meeting anywhere.

"As long as there is a willingness to engage in dialogue, whether the summit will be held face-to-face or virtual does not matter. Whatever method North Korea wants will be acceptable," Moon said during an interview with foreign and local media.

Moon added that he wanted to proceed with dialogue before the end of his current term, set for this May.

However, Pyongyang has so far not responded to the US and South Korean offers.

South Korean top nuclear negotiator Noh Kyu-duk said the current situation in the region is "very serious."

"Right now, the conditions in the Korean Peninsula are very serious. We are especially concerned because many remarks and actions have been emanating (from North Korea) since late last year and this month," the agency quoted Noh as saying before his meeting in Honolulu with his Japanese and US counterparts.

The three countries want to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table as Pyongyang has avoided dialogue after meetings with former US President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019 failed to produce a deal.

Last month, Kim warned that US threats "have reached a dangerous line that cannot be overlooked," pushing defense officials to start "immediately bolstering physical means" to counter Washington's "hostile moves."

The US has held "hundreds of joint war drills ... and conducted tests of all kinds of strategic weapons, while shipping ultra-modern attack means into South Korea and nuclear strategic weapons into the region around the Korean Peninsula, seriously threatening the security of our state," Kim said, accusing the US of undermining the progress made in Pyongyang-Washington talks.