WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Top diplomats for the United States, Japan and South Korea met in Washington Monday, reiterating their commitment to preserving peace in Northeast Asia.
"This is a landmark trilateral meeting between three strong partners," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said to reporters of her meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan. "This meeting takes place at a time of grave concern in Northeast Asia amid the provocative attacks from North Korea."
Clinton, Maehara and Kim said in a statement after the meeting the three countries "reaffirmed their mutual bilateral responsibilities and steadfast commitments" under several treaties.
The ministers pledged to maintain and enhance coordination and consultation on issues related to North Korea, expressing concern over the Nov. 23 artillery attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, in which four people died.
"The ministers strongly condemned the attack," the statement said, urging North Korea to stop "its provocative behavior" and abide by 1953 cease-fire "to preserve peace and stability not only in Northeast Asia but also in the wider region."
Clinton, Kim and Maehara also affirmed that North Korea's "provocative and belligerent behavior threatens all three countries and will be met with solidarity from all three countries."
They also condemned Pyongyang's construction of a uranium enrichment facility, noting it violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The ministers reiterated their commitment to the so-called six-party talks among the Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula would require North Korea to "make sincere efforts to improve relations with (South Korea) as well as taking concrete steps to demonstrate a genuine commitment to complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization."
The three ministers also agreed to strengthen cooperation to prevent North Korean proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and reaffirmed that proliferation and delivery of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons "constitutes a threat to international peace and security."
