Vice foreign ministers from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan on Friday jointly condemned all acts that undermine security, including North Korea's satellite launch.

The condemnation came during a trilateral meeting between first vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Japanese vice foreign minister Masataka Okano at a location near Washington D.C.

The three sides issued a joint statement that reaffirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation in addressing the most difficult challenges at hand, stressing their partnership is essential to the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.

The vice ministers shared concerns about the North's increasingly destabilizing rhetoric and actions, denouncing the regime's recent launches using ballistic missile technology, including a so-called "military reconnaissance satellite."

They reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, calling on the North to engage in substantive dialogue without preconditions.
 
The vice ministers also shared concerns about deepening cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including arms transfers in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, while opposing any unilateral attempt to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, in apparent reference to China.

[Photo : KBS News]