U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking at the end of the ASEAN forum, said North Korea’s “provocative and deeply concerning behavior” goes against the worldwide trend of “trying to move in a different direction on nuclear weapons”.
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Kerry, who was in the Laotian capital to attend an Asia-Pacific security conference that includes North Korea, said its actions present a very serious threat not just to this region, but also to worldwide peace and security. Kerry said the Iran nuclear deal with the United States and other countries shows acrimony can be overcome to stop a nuclear threat.
“The key factor damaging the situation is the United States’ hostile policies. and the problem is getting worse”, he said, citing significantly toughened UN and USA economic sanctions imposed after the North’s fourth nuclear test in January. He said the isolated nation would continue to develop nuclear weapons to counter the “never-ending nuclear blackmails of the U.S”.
China has strongly opposed THAAD’s deployment in South Korea, saying the system, especially the powerful “X-band” radar, could be used against it, despite repeated assurances from the US and the South that the battery is purely defensive and would be used only to cope with North Korean threats. The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea and regularly holds joint military drills with South Korea. “The United States will have to pay dearly a terrifying price”.
Ri, a former nuclear negotiator, was making his overseas debut as North Korea’s top diplomat at the gathering hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“As a responsible nuclear state, we will not recklessly resort to its use in the absence of substantive threat, unless we are threatened by invasion by another nuclear power state”, he was quoted as saying.
News of the defections came during a period of tension on the Korean peninsula following the North’s fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the next month. “But North Korea alone. the only country in the world defying the global movement towards responsibility, continues to develop its own weapon, continues to develop its missiles, continues the provocative actions”, he said.
He criticized North Korea as “the only country in the world defying the worldwide movement towards responsibility” by continuing to develop its missile program.
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South Korea is accusing rival North Korea of floating propaganda leaflets via a river in the first such incident.
