Biden, Singaporean leader urge North Korea to engage in dialogue

2024-05-20 16:18:10      点击：563

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong speaks alongside U.S. President Joe Biden in the East Room of the White House, March 29. AP-Yonhap

U.S. President Joe Biden and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on North Korea to engage in serious dialogue Tuesday, reaffirming their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The call comes after a series of North Korean missile tests that included Pyongyang's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch in over four years.

"The leaders reaffirm a shared commitment to the goal of the complete denuclearization and the establishment of a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," they said in a joint statement.

"Both leaders call on the DPRK to engage in serious and sustained diplomacy and emphasize the importance of full implementation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions," they added.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

North Korea launched an ICBM Thursday (KST), ending its self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile testing that had been in place since late 2017.

Biden said he and Lee shared concerns over North Korea's destabilizing activities.

"We shared our concerns about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and their destabilizing ballistic missile launches ... which are clearly in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions," the U.S. president said in a joint press conference with Lee at the White House.

"And we both urge North Korea to refrain from further provocations and return to the negotiation table for serious and sustained diplomacy," Biden added.

Pyongyang has so far staged 12 missile launches this year, including seven in January that marked the largest number of missile tests by the North in a single month.

North Korea continues to avoid talks with the U.S. despite numerous overtures from the Biden administration that took office in January 2021.

North Korea and the U.S. last held denuclearization talks in late 2019. (Yonhap)