The United States on June 1 outlined the only possible path to peace on the Korean Peninsula, while affirming its determination to strengthen cooperation with South Korea and Japan to prevent threats from Pyongyang.
Image of the launch of a rocket carrying North Korea's first military reconnaissance satellite on May 31. (Source: KCNA) |
Speaking at a session at the annual Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity held on Jeju Island, southern South Korea, US Ambassador to Seoul Philip Goldberg stressed the importance of diplomacy in resolving rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
"We continue to believe that diplomacy is the only viable path to achieving a safe, stable, nuclear-free Korean Peninsula," Goldberg said.
According to the diplomat, the US-South Korea bilateral partnership "ensures peace in the region and cooperation with like-minded partners in the international community."
He also highlighted the importance of the two countries' work to deter potential aggression by North Korea, "in particular the threat or use of weapons of mass destruction."
Meanwhile, on the same day, US President Joe Biden said that Washington will strengthen cooperation with South Korea and Japan to prevent threats posed by North Korea, in the context that North Korea just launched its first military spy satellite on May 31, but failed.
“In the Indo-Pacific, we are strengthening our trilateral alliance and cooperation with Japan and South Korea. Together, we are discussing and coordinating to enhance our ability to deter regional threats, including from North Korea,” Biden said at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado.
On May 31, North Korea launched a "space vehicle" intended to carry the country's first military reconnaissance satellite southward, but it crashed into the Yellow Sea after an "unusual flight."
South Korea has condemned North Korea's latest move as a violation of a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions banning its nuclear and missile programs, as the satellite launch used technology used in making ballistic missiles.
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