South Korea’s top diplomat on Friday strongly condemned North Korea’s latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a meeting of foreign ministers of the East Asia Summit (EAS) forum held in Jakarta, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.
Foreign Minister Park Jin also took note of a statement issued by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) expressing grave concern over the North’s ICBM launch earlier this week, according to the ministry.
On Thursday, the foreign ministers of ASEAN issued a joint statement expressing concern over the North’s launch carried out a day earlier during ongoing high-level meetings hosted by the association in Indonesia.
Park also stressed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was in clear violation of international law and that it posed a “direct threat” to the principles of international order and national sovereignty.
He also underscored the importance of peace and stability in the South China Sea, and explained South Korea’s willingness to cooperate with the international community in establishing a rules-based international order and allowing freedom of travel based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The EAS is a forum for dialogue among leaders of the Asia-Pacific region on a wide range of issues involving ASEAN member states, South Korea, China and Japan, as well as the United States, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand.
Park is also scheduled to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum, the region’s largest security meeting, later in the day.
Source: Yonhap News Agency