President Yoon Suk Yeol said that the direct threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs is spreading to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN).

The president made the remarks in a written interview with the Indonesian daily Kompas published on Tuesday ahead of his departure for Indonesia and India to attend regional summits of ASEAN and the Group of 20.

Yoon said in the interview that in times like these, South Korea and ASEAN must unite to respond to the North Korean threats resolutely and cooperate closely to achieve the denuclearization of the regime.

He said that peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region is directly linked to that of the entire global community, and international norms are being ignored while agreements and promises are being broken due to the war in Ukraine and the North's nuclear and missile threats.

Yoon stressed the need to further strengthen cooperation and solidarity between South Korea and ASEAN to ensure that rules-based order can take root in the Indo-Pacific region.

Yoon also said that now is the time to restore cooperation between South Korea, China and Japan, vowing full effort from Seoul to boost trilateral cooperation as the chair of a three-way consultative body.

He said that revitalization of the relationship will increase momentum for cooperation among the three and ASEAN, which will further strengthen “ASEAN centrality,” adding that the trilateral dynamic of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan is not designed to exclude a certain country or respond to certain forces.

[Photo : YONHAP News]