World Updates : North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles into the waters off its western coast earlier on Wednesday. In response, the US has urged North Korea to desist from additional destabilizing measures and to resume diplomatic engagement. During a briefing on Wednesday, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said to VOA, “We find [the actions] incredibly dangerous,” but she would not disclose the US assessment of North Korea’s objectives.
Only a few days had passed since Pyongyang tested an intermediate-range, solid-fuel missile with a hypersonic warhead into waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
Patel went on, “We continue to be open to diplomacy without preconditions and harbor no hostile intent toward the DPRK.” The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, to which he was alluding, is the formal name for North Korea.
In a harsh critique of South Korea, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that relations between the two Koreas are that of “two states hostile to each other.”
According to press sources citing satellite photos, a significant monument in Pyongyang symbolizing the aim of reconciliation with South Korea has been demolished.
Kim declared earlier this month that unification with South Korea was no longer feasible and referred to South Korea as a “primary foe and invariable principal enemy.”
Some commentators see this as a shift from North Korea’s long-standing goal of bringing the Korean Peninsula back under its control.
Pyongyang likewise refuses to engage in negotiations with Seoul and continues to reject Washington’s invitations for talks.
The United States has expressed dissatisfaction with North Korea’s persistent refusal to engage in conversation and the intensification of its antagonistic language directed against South Korea. According to the US, maintaining long-term peace on the Korean Peninsula requires inter-Korean collaboration.
“As well as our continued stated goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, we are eager to engage in substantive discussions on identifying ways to not just manage military risk but create lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Patel said on Wednesday.
Major General Patrick Ryder, the press secretary at the Pentagon, informed reporters on Tuesday that Washington has made a point of collaborating with partners and friends “to deter and help stabilize the security of the region.”
In compliance with pertinent United Nations Security Council resolutions, the United States, Japan, and South Korea have reiterated their commitment to the full denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The DPRK is likewise urged by the three nations to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile development.
The last cruise missile launch by North Korea occurred in September 2023. At that moment, two cruise missiles with simulated nuclear warheads were fired toward the Yellow Sea.
Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, the two Koreas have been divided. Since the Korean War concluded with a truce rather than a peace treaty, they are still technically at war.
[…] Updates : North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles into the waters off its western coast earlier on Wednesday. In […]