Quad Diplomats Reaffirm Commitment to North Korea's 'Complete' Denuclearization

By Song Sang-ho WASHINGTON, May 26 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of the United States, Australia, Japan and India reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of North Korea during their talks in New Delhi on Tuesday, according to a joint statement, as tensions flared anew following Pyongyang's missile and artillery launches.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held their Quad ministerial meeting in the Indian capital.

"We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with relevant UNSCRs and urge North Korea to abide by all its obligations under the relevant UNSCRs," they said in the statement, referring to U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"We condemn North Korea's unlawful development of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction," they added.

Their statement came hours after Pyongyang fired multiple close-range ballistic missiles and artillery rockets toward the Yellow Sea in its latest saber-rattling that underscored its continued push to advance its weapons programs.

The top diplomats expressed "grave" concern over North Korea's malicious cyber activities and information technology worker activities, which they said fund Pyongyang's "unlawful" weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

"We will continue to support efforts to address contraventions of North Korea-related UNSCRs. We urge all U.N. member states to abide by their international obligations under the UNSCRs to implement sanctions, including the prohibition on the transfer to North Korea or procurement from North Korea of all arms and related materiel," they said.

In addition, they voiced "deep" concern about countries that are deepening military cooperation with North Korea, which the diplomats pointed out "directly undermines the global non-proliferation regime."

During the Quad ministers' meeting, the four countries also agreed on the launch of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Surveillance Corporation Initiative, under which the countries will harness their surveillance capabilities to enhance information sharing, Rubio said during a joint press conference.

Moreover, they agreed on the expansion of the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative to provide near real-time commercial maritime domain awareness data to countries throughout the Indo-Pacific, the secretary said.

The agreement to enhance maritime security came as the four countries shared concerns over continuing disruptions to commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key sea lane for shipments of oil, natural gas, fertilizer and other commodities.

"The reason why maritime security is so important, beyond the fact that current events remind us of what can happen when maritime security is impeded, is the fact that 60 percent of global maritime trade passes through the Indo-Pacific," Rubio said.

"It's a vital national interest, not just to the four countries represented here today but to dozens and dozens of countries, countless countries around the world."