Trilateral National Security Advisors Statement on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Missile Launches

The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea condemn today’s DPRK missile launches.  These launches are clear violations of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, and demonstrate the threat the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs pose to the region, international peace and security, and the global non-proliferation regime. This action demonstrates the need for all countries to fully implement DPRK-related UN Security Council resolutions that are intended to prohibit the DPRK from acquiring the technologies and materials needed to carry out these destabilizing launches.

The United States reaffirms unequivocally its ironclad security commitments to both Japan and the ROK. National Security Secretariat Secretary General Akiba Takeo, ROK National Security Advisor Cho Tae-yong, and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met today in Tokyo and discussed ways to further strengthen trilateral cooperation, including through lock-step coordination in responding to the threats posed by the DPRK’s illicit nuclear and missile programs. They also affirmed that Japan-ROK-U.S. cooperation would not be shaken by provocations and shared their belief that the DPRK should take the path of diplomacy rather than continued provocations. The national security advisors stated their intent to redouble their collective efforts to uphold peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

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