By Cynthia Kim and Josh Smith
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea condemned China, Japan and South Korea on Monday for committing to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Their joint statement after a rare summit in Seoul has been described as a “serious political provocation” that violates the country’s sovereignty.
The North has signaled its plans to launch a rocket to deploy a satellite by June 4, prompting the three countries to call for a halt to the move that could threaten the isolated country’s ability to launch a to carry out a nuclear attack.
At their first three-way summit in Seoul since 2019, the three countries sought to cooperate on security issues, reiterating their positions on regional peace and stability and denuclearization of the peninsula, they said in a joint statement.
However, such discussion is an “insult that should never be forgiven and a declaration of war against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a quick response.
“Discussing denuclearization… today constitutes a serious political provocation and violation of sovereignty,” the unidentified spokesman said in the statement carried by Northern state media.
Such a move denies the North’s inviolable sovereignty and constitution, which reflect the unanimous will of the entire Korean people, he added.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has not singled out North Korea for criticism, but has called on all parties to reduce tension.
While South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged Pyongyang to scrap its plans to launch a second spy satellite into orbit, Li made no mention of the expected launch.
China angered North Korea when it signed U.N. Security Council resolutions sanctioning Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile program from 2006 to 2017, but in recent years Beijing has joined Russia in blocking new sanctions and calling for relaxation of existing measures.
North Korea launched its first military spy satellite into orbit in November, after two previous attempts in 2023 failed.
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Toby Chopra and Clarence Fernandez)
