THE 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, its leaders meeting in Manila this weekend, told North Korea to comply with international law and immediately halt its subsequent missile launches, seen to further aggravate tensions within the Korean Peninsula and the greater Asean region.
“We urge the DPRK to immediately cease all actions that violate its international obligations and contravene United Nations Security Council resolutions,” President Rodrigo Duterte, who chairs the Asean, said in his chairman’s statement.
“The actions of the DPRK have resulted in an escalation of tensions that can affect peace and stability in the entire region.”
“We reaffirm the importance of compliance with international law and the full implementation of all relevant UNSC resolutions,” it added.
From Seoul, Agence France-Presse said North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile Saturday in apparent defiance of a concerted US push for tougher international sanctions to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions.
The latest launch, which South Korea said was a failure, came just hours after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned the UN Security Council of “catastrophic consequences” if the international community—most notably China—failed to pressure the North into abandoning its weapons program.
Military options for dealing with the North were still “on the table,” Tillerson warned in his first address to the UN body.
The launch ratchets up tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with Washington and Pyongyang locked in an ever-tighter spiral of threat, counter-threat and escalating military preparedness.
On Friday, Asean foreign ministers issued a statement expressing “grave concern” over North Korea’s recent nuclear weapons tests and ballistic missile launches, despite Pyongyang’s appeal for support.
Pyongyang launched two nuclear tests in 2016 and subsequent launches using ballistic missile technology like the submarine-launched ballistic missile, which has sparked distress in neighboring South Korea.
Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh said the regional bloc’s position on the ongoing tensions on the Korean Peninsula was “very clear and consistent.”
Minh said Asean’s stand included calling for the de-escalation of the standoff and for the resumption of the six-party talks.
The six-party talks involving North and South Korea, China, the US, Japan and Russia collapsed in 2008 after a rocket launch by the Pyongyang regime.
North Korea had earlier requested for Asean’s support in its row with the US over US-South Korean military exercises on the Korean Peninsula.
In a letter to Minh, North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho warned the situation on the peninsula was on “the brink of war” because of Washington’s actions.
Ri also urged Minh to inform member nations’ foreign ministers “about the grave situation”.
The bloc likewise urged “all parties concerned” to “cease all provocative actions and exercise self-restraint to de-escalate the tension and refrain from actions that may aggravate the situation.”
“We also reiterate our full support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and for the concerned Parties to exercise restraint in order to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. We strongly urged the DPRK to comply with these resolutions and acknowledged the importance to exercise self-restraint and called on all parties to exert collective efforts in the interest of maintaining peace, security and stability in the region and the world.”
US President Donald Trump, who has warned of a “major conflict” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s regime, said the latest test was a pointed snub to China—he North’s main ally and economic lifeline.
“North Korea disrespected the wishes of China and its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!” Trump tweeted.
The US is deploying a naval strike group led by an aircraft carrier to the Korean Peninsula, and a missile-defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense that officials say will be operational “within days”.
North Korea recently conducted its biggest-ever firing drill and has threatened to “bury at sea” the US aircraft carrier, amid signs it could be preparing for a sixth nuclear test.
South Korea’s defense ministry said it suspected Saturday’s missile test had failed after a brief flight, while the US military’s Pacific Command confirmed the rocket did not leave North Korean territory.
South Korea condemned the launch, with foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-Hyuck saying if the North continued to “play with fire,” it would “face strong punitive steps in various levels,” including from the UN Security Council.
Japan has lodged a “serious protest and criticism” to the North, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters after a national security council meeting.
China, meanwhile, pushed back at Tillerson’s call at the UN Security Council for it to do more to rein in Pyongyang, arguing that it was unrealistic to expect one country to solve the conflict.
“The use of force does not solve differences and will only lead to bigger disasters,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
His country, he said, should not be “a focal point of the problem on the peninsula” and stressed that “the key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the Chinese side”.
Russia joined China in appealing for a return to talks and de-escalation.
Military action was “completely unacceptable,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the council, and a miscalculation could have “frightening consequences.”
But Tillerson argued that diplomacy had to be backed with credible muscle.
“Diplomatic and financial levers of power will be backed up by willingness to counteract North Korean aggression with military action, if necessary,” he said.
“The threat of a North Korean nuclear attack on Seoul or Tokyo is real, and it is likely only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the US mainland.”
The meeting of the top UN body on Friday laid bare major differences among key powers over the way to address the North Korea crisis.
Over the past 11 years, the Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions on Pyongyang—two adopted last year—to significantly ramp up pressure and deny the North Korean regime the hard currency revenue needed for its military programmes.
But UN sanctions experts have repeatedly told the council the measures have had little impact because they have been poorly implemented.
Tillerson called on all countries to downgrade or sever diplomatic relations with North Korea and impose targeted sanctions on entities and individuals supporting its missile and nuclear program.
The United States is ready to impose sanctions on third countries where companies or individuals are found to have helped North Korea’s military programs, he said.
China instead wants Pyongyang to freeze its military programs in exchange for a halt to US-South Korean annual drills.
“Now is the time to seriously consider talks,” said Wang.
But Tillerson was blunt in saying it was up to North Korea to take the first concrete steps.
“We will not negotiate our way back to the negotiating table,” he said.
“We will not reward their bad behavior with talks.”
The United States, Russia and China took part in six-party talks on North Korea’s denuclearization from 2003 to 2009, along with Japan, South Korea and Pyongyang. With AFP