US ambassador to Seoul joins condemnation of planned NK rocket launch

[한겨레] Seoul making diplomatic efforts to rally relevant countries in condemning the launch

By Park Byong-soo, staff reporter

South Korean government officials met with ambassadors from the US, China, Japan and Russia on Dec. 3 in Seoul to discuss cooperative countermeasures to the North Korean rocket launch.

Ahn Ho-young, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, met Sung Kim, the US ambassador to South Korea, and reached an agreement that the launch of the North Korean rocket has to be cancelled and concerted diplomatic efforts should be made towards that objective.

A government official said, "Our stance is that the North Korean missile launch constitutes a violation of the UN Security Council's resolution and a threat to the stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia". The official added that the government has been pouring diplomatic efforts into halting the North Korean missile launch.

Lim Sung-nam, the chief South Korean negotiator for the six-party talks and representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs sat down with Chinese, Japanese and Russian ambassadors. The talks reportedly focused on voicing each country's stance on the North Korean rocket launch and discussing future countermeasures. Lim is planning to fly to the US on Dec. 4 to meet Glyn Davies, the special representative of the Secretary of State for North Korea policy to talk about such countermeasures.

The series of meetings with ambassadors from the four major neighboring countries have clarified the South Korean government's stance that the North Korean rocket launch is a major provocation. The diplomatic response will be to put pressure on North Korea through international cooperation. The government hopes that especially China and Russia can convey the message opposing the rocket launch to the North.

However, many have observed inside and outside of the government that solely diplomatic efforts are not likely to stop the North Korean rocket launch. Accordingly, the government is reportedly discussing possible countermeasures following the launch including additional sanctions from the UN Security Council.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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