North Korea asked to stop underwater missile tests and resume nuclear talks with US

Days after North Korea fired its first underwater-launched ballistic missile in two years, a senior US ambassador urged North to refrain from further missile testing and resume nuclear dialogue. Sung Kim, the US ambassador for North Korea, spoke after meeting with South Korean officials to address North Korea's recent missile tests, despite the fact that nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang are still stuck.

"We call on the DPRK to cease these provocations and other destabilizing activities, and instead, engage in dialogue. We remain ready to meet with the DPRK without preconditions and we have made clear that the United States harbors no hostile intent towards the DPRK," Kim said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, AP reported.

North Korea conducted its fifth set of weapons tests in recent weeks on Tuesday, October 22 firing a newly built ballistic missile from a submarine. Officials in South Korea claimed a submarine-launched missile looked to be in the early stages of development. That was the North's first underwater test since October 2019 and the most high-profile since President Joe Biden took office in January. Submarine-launched missiles are tougher to detect in advance, giving North Korea a backup, retaliatory assault capability.

Ballistic missile launch 'violation of UN resolutions' says South Korea

The launch on Tuesday, October 22 is in violation of repeated UN Security Council resolutions prohibiting North Korea from engaging in any ballistic missile activity. The test, Kim added, is a danger to the entire community and is concerning and unhelpful to attempts to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. Noh Kyu-duk, Kim's South Korean colleague, said the two had a "in-depth" conversation about Seoul's desire for a symbolic declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a means of bringing peace. Noh and Kim also emphasised that if negotiations resume, North Korea's topics of concern can be discussed, according to Noh.

The United States-led discussions to terminate North Korea's nuclear programme have been mostly deadlocked since early 2019, when a meeting between then-President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed due to disagreements over US-led sanctions against the North. Kim's South Korean colleague, Noh Kyu-duk, said the two talked "in-depth" about Seoul's desire for a symbolic declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a means of achieving peace. Noh and Kim both stated that if talks resume, North Korea's major concerns can be discussed, according to Noh. Since early 2019, when a meeting between then-President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed owing to disagreements over US-led sanctions against the North, the US-led discussions to end North Korea's nuclear programme have been essentially stalled.

(With inputs from AP)

Image: AP