Philippines urges North Korea to stop 'provocations,' start talks

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines on Saturday repeated its call on North Korea to stop its “provocations” and instead engage in talks to ease tensions after the rogue state conducted another missile launch in the face of tougher international sanctions.

South Korean and Japanese officials on Friday said Pyongyang fired an intermediate range ballistic missile that overflew Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean east of Japan.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano urged North Korea to “cease its provocative and highly dangerous actions that threaten the peace, stability and security of the region.”

"DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) must put a stop to these tests and to start talks instead," Cayetano said.

“We likewise continue to urge the DPRK to abide by the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, as the Philippines remains committed to complying with the same,” he added.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Cayetano – who will attend the 72nd Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York – will consult other Southeast Asian foreign ministers on how to reduce tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

“Of course, we are also concerned about the safety of the 242,000 Filipinos in Japan who may be impacted by these provocative acts," Cayetano said.

“Our Embassy in Tokyo and Consulate General in Osaka are closely monitoring the situation and are regularly providing updates to the Filipino community,” he added.

"Our kababayans in Japan must closely monitor the Embassy’s announcements and to update information on their whereabouts and contact details with the Embassy or Consulate General.”

On Monday, the UN Security Council slapped North Korea with stiffer sanctions on top of previous ones that hit the country’s exports of iron ore, coal, and seafood.

In response, the new sanctions were condemned “in the strongest terms” by North Korea, which branded the UN’s resolution as “illegal and unlawful,” according to Reuters.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana recently described North Korea’s latest missile launch as “very concerning”.

Last August, Foreign ministers of the member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations released a statement expressing concern over the escalation of tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

The statement came after Pyongyang's testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles on July 2 and 28 and previous ballistic missile launches and two nuclear tests last year.

North Korea is a participant of the ASEAN Regional Forum. The Philippines chairs this year's ASEAN meetings.

North Korea determined to continue testing

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country is nearing its goal of "equilibrium" in military force with the United States, as the United Nations Security Council strongly condemned the North's "highly provocative" ballistic missile launch over Japan on Friday.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency carried Kim's comments on Saturday — a day after US and South Korean militaries detected the missile launch from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

The North has confirmed the missile as an intermediate range Hwasong-12, the same model launched over Japan on Aug. 29.
Under Kim's watch, North Korea has maintained a torrid pace in weapons tests, including its most powerful nuclear test to date on Sept. 3 and two July flight tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

The increasingly frequent and aggressive tests have added to outside fears that the North is closer than ever to building a military arsenal that could viably target the U.S. and its allies in Asia. The tests, which could potentially make launches over Japan an accepted norm, are also seen as North Korea's attempt to win greater military freedom in the region and raise doubts in Seoul and Tokyo that Washington would risk the annihilation of a U.S. city to protect them.

The KCNA said Kim expressed great satisfaction over the launch, which he said verified the "combat efficiency and reliability" of the missile and the success of efforts to increase its power.

The UN Security Council has accused North Korea of undermining regional peace and security by launching its latest missile over Japan and said its nuclear and missile tests "have caused grave security concerns around the world" and threaten all 193 UN member states.

Kim also said the country, despite "limitless" international sanctions, has nearly completed the building of its nuclear weapons force and called for "all-state efforts" to reach the goal and obtain a "capacity for nuclear counterattack the US cannot cope with."

"As recognized by the whole world, we have made all these achievements despite the U.N. sanctions that have lasted for decades," the agency quoted Kim as saying.

Kim said the country's final goal "is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the U.S. and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK," referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. – with an Associated Press report