S. Korea, U.S. and Japan Create Measures to Tighten Noose around N. Korea

South Korea, the United States and Japan agreed on June 13 to crack down on North Korea’s illegal activities such as drug smuggling and money counterfeiting, major sources of hard currency for the country’s nuclear program. They also consider stopping the construction of two light water nuclear reactors at the end of August for technical reasons.

At the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) meeting held over two days in Honolulu, Hawaii, the three nations reached a consensus on several issues.

In a joint press release, chief delegates from the three nations expressed concern about the illegal activities of North Korean entities, including the circulation of drugs and counterfeit currency, and discussed how to jointly respond and cooperate with international organizations to stop such activities. This is the first time that the three nations specified ways to pressure North Korea in a TCOG statement.

However, this is only a measure to respond to international crimes and illegal activities, not an intention to impose sanctions on Pyongyang, Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuk, South Korea’s chief delegate, explained.

Regarding the construction of two nuclear reactors, the South Korean delegate also said that at the end of August, it will be difficult to supply North Korea with parts and raw materials for the reactors.

During the talks, the three nations agreed to hold multilateral talks, including South Korea and Japan in order to settle the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis, not like the trilateral talks in Beijing between North Korea, the U.S. and China.

Participants agreed to discuss when to take the North Korean issue to the United Nations Security Council in future talks after considering the outlook for multilateral talks, the chief delegate from South Korea said. However, according to foreign news reports, the U.S. insisted on dealing with the issue at a U.N. Security Council meeting if Pyongyang did not accept multilateral talks or started to reprocess its spent fuel rods. This was however excluded from the joint press release at South Korea’s request.

The U.S. delegation to the TCOG meeting was led by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly, while the Japanese delegation was led by Mitoji Abunaka, Director General of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanic Affairs Section.

Ki-Heung Han eligius@donga.com