READOUT
OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON
MARCH 25, 2022
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:
On March 24, Special Representative for the DPRK Sung Kim held separate calls with Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Funakoshi Takehiro and ROK Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk and they jointly condemned the DPRK’s March 24 ballistic missile launch, the latest in a series of increasingly escalatory launches this year.
Special Representative Kim and his counterparts condemned the launch as a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and as presenting a serious threat to regional stability. Special Representative Kim underscored the United States’ continued commitment to close trilateral coordination with our Japanese and ROK allies and our continued readiness to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy with the DPRK. He reaffirmed the shared goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and ironclad U.S. commitment to the defense of the ROK and Japan.