U.S. President Joe Biden, second from right, greets leaders of Australia, India and Japan at the Quad leaders' summit at Archmere Academy in Wilmington, Del., Saturday (local time). From left, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. AP-Yonhap
The leaders of key Asia-Pacific countries have condemned North Korea's nuclear programs and continuing provocations, reaffirming their commitment to achieving the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also expressed concerns over the deepening military ties between Russia and North Korea in a joint statement issued after their Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) summit in Wilmington, Del., on Saturday (local time).
The statement from the leaders of the Quad group, a strategic security forum of the four nations, comes amid a series of provocations by Pyongyang in recent months. These provocations include test-firing ballistic missiles, revealing a uranium enrichment facility, and sending trash-filled balloons to South Korea.
"We condemn North Korea's destabilizing ballistic missile launches and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions," the leaders said in the joint statement. "These launches pose a grave threat to international peace and stability."
The Quad leaders urged North Korea to adhere to its obligations under the UNSC resolutions, to refrain from further provocations, and to engage in meaningful dialogue. They reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and called on all countries to fully implement relevant resolutions.
They emphasized the importance of preventing the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies associated with North Korea.
"We express our grave concern over North Korea's use of proliferation networks, malicious cyber activity and workers abroad to fund its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," the leaders said.
In their statement, the leaders urged all U.N. member states to comply with the resolutions, particularly the prohibition on arms transfers to or from North Korea. They also voiced deep concerns about countries enhancing military cooperation with North Korea, stating such actions undermine the global nonproliferation regime.
Although the statement did not specify the names of such countries, it clearly targeted Russia, which has been strengthening military ties with North Korea since the June summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
At the time, the two nations agreed that each side would provide immediate military assistance if the other is attacked.
It is widely believed that North Korea is supplying missiles to Russia to support its ongoing war with Ukraine, and there are concerns that Moscow may, in return, transfer nuclear weapons technologies to Pyongyang.
The leaders underscored the necessity of enforcing sanctions against Pyongyang, highlighting that a U.N. expert panel monitoring sanctions violations has been disbanded.
"We reiterate our commitment to continued implementation of the relevant resolutions which remain in full force," they said.
Oh Gyeong-seob, a director at the state-funded Korea Institute for National Unification, believes the joint statement will bolster deterrence against North Korea's nuclear ambitions and suggests Pyongyang will likely respond.
"North Korea will likely react strongly. It has already been significantly opposing the U.N.'s sanctions against them, so it's reasonable to expect the North to strongly resist the stance of these countries regarding their nuclear activities," Oh told The Korea Times. "The possibility of military provocations is always present."
On the sidelines of the summit, outgoing leaders Biden and Kishida held a bilateral meeting. They assessed the strengthening of security and economic ties among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan as a significant achievement and pledged to continue cooperating to deter North Korea's nuclear threats.
Biden commended Kishida for his "courage and conviction in strengthening ties" with South Korea, according to the White House. They also addressed China's “coercive and destabilizing activities" in the Pacific, underlining the importance of unity among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo in addressing regional security challenges.