Wong tours DMZ, condemns North Korean missiles
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has condemned North Korea’s missile launches and spoken out against its security pact with Russia, saying both were acting to destabilise the Indo-Pacific region and flout international law.
She will meet with her South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as Australia works with partners around the Korean peninsular to enforce United Nations sanctions against the North.
Senator Wong branded North Korea’s actions “provocative and reckless” following repeated ballistic missile launches she said threatened the security of not only neighbours South Korea and Japan, but regional peace more broadly.
“We share our grave concerns about (North Korea’s) escalatory actions, destabilising actions,” she said at a press conference in the Panmunjom joint security area on Tuesday as she toured the demilitarised zone that separates North and South Korea.
“We continue, alongside the international community, to condemn North Korea’s ballistic missile launches which threaten our security.”
The foreign minister also called out a security pact between Pyongyang and Moscow, branding it “risky for the world”.
The pact, signed in May between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, contained a clause that one would aid the other during war by providing “military and other assistance with all means”.
It signalled the deepening co-operation between the Kremlin and the pariah state as Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine and warns the West against any involvement as the international community propped up Kyiv’s defences.
“Again, we see Russia behaving in ways which are not conducive to peace, but are escalatory,” Senator Wong said.
“The continued transfer, also of weapons from North Korea to Russia, is a flagrant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
Senator Wong also touted further co-operation with South Korea, including in the defence sector.
Her visit to South Korea came a day after she met with Quad nation counterparts from the United States, Japan and India in Tokyo.
The four nations which make up the grouping also condemned North Korea’s missile launches and reiterated their commitment to denuclearisation along the peninsular.
“We express our grave concern over North Korea’s use of proliferation linkages, malicious cyber activity and workers abroad to fund its unlawful weapons of mass destruction,” the Quad said in a statement.
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