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| Park Young-hyo, left, director-general for nuclear nonproliferation and diplomatic planning at the South Korean ministry, meets with Atsushi Kaifu, director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry's disarmament, non-proliferation and science department, on Jeju Island, May 29. Yonhap |
South Korea and Japan held their first bilateral disarmament and nonproliferation consultations in five years and called for North Korea to immediately withdraw its plan to launch a military spy satellite, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.
Park Young-hyo, director-general for nuclear nonproliferation and diplomatic planning at the ministry, met with Atsushi Kaifu, director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry's disarmament, non-proliferation and science department, on Jeju Island on Monday, the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the two sides voiced concerns about North Korea's heightened nuclear threat and its plan to launch a spy satellite in the coming weeks.
The officials urged the North to scrap the launch, which they said is a serious violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit all launches using ballistic missile technology.
They also exchanged views on challenges to the international disarmament and nonproliferation regime, and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in related areas.
The meeting on nonproliferation was held for the first time since 2018, as relations between the two countries have thawed under the current Yoon Suk Yeol administration. (Yonhap)
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