South Korea, US, and Japan foreign ministers "denounce North Korea's missiles... urge to return to negotiations"

The foreign ministers of the three countries issued a joint statement strongly condemning North Korea's recent ballistic missile test launch.

Foreign Minister Park Jin, US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln, and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi issued a joint statement today (28th) to announce their position on North Korea's missile provocation.

It is considered unusual for the ministers of the three countries to make a statement in the form of a joint statement rather than the outcome of the talks.

"South Korea, the United States and Japan strongly condemn North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch, and pledge to strengthen trilateral cooperation toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the full implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions," the three ministers said. We emphasize that we continue to be open to meeting with them.”

"Despite the support of the 13 members of the Security Council, we deeply regret the failure of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution in response to North Korea's blatant and repeated violations of the Security Council resolutions," they said.

"We reaffirm our commitment to further strengthening cooperation with the international community to urge North Korea to stop its illegal activities and come to dialogue," he said. "I urge North Korea to return to negotiations," he said.