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Confronting the North Korean Threat
North Korea fired several ballistic missiles as South Korea was hosting the recent Summit for Democracy in Seoul. The launches came only days after the end of annual U.S.-South Korean military drills in the region.
“The United States condemns these launches and calls on the [Democratic Republic of North Korea] to refrain from any further destabilizing acts,” said the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in a statement.
A significant concern regarding North Korea is its increasing alignment with Russia over the past couple of years, including weapons transfers, said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Jung Pak in a recent interview with Voice of America:
“We know that there have been at least 10,000 containers that have gone from DPRK to Russia and DPRK is not doing this for free. There's almost certainly things that DPRK wants in return, and we're concerned about what might be going on to the other side. We also worry about what the DPRK could be learning from Russia's use of these weapons and ballistic missiles on the battlefield and how that might embolden or and help the DPRK even further advance their weapons program.”
The U.S. has confirmed that ballistic missiles provided by North Korea to Russia have been fired at targets in Ukraine. This is of grave concern to the United States, said Deputy Assistant Secretary Pak:
“We have a known proliferator in the DPRK selling weapons to Russia and to be able to conduct their unlawful brutal attack on Ukraine, killing Ukrainian people, destroying Ukraine infrastructure and just destroying lives. ... There have been at least 10 instances where the DPRK missiles have been used on the battlefield.”
The United States remains committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, said Deputy Assistant Secretary Pak:
“And so that goal has not wavered for us at all. And we are very much lashed up with all of our allies and partners on that goal.”
In the meantime, said Deputy Assistant Secretary Pak, “we'll continue to press forward on sanctions designations, on export controls, as well as extended deterrence ... to make sure that our allies are safe, our troops are safe, and then we continue to choke the ways that (the) DPRK is able to fund their weapons program.”