1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha talked to Foreign Minister Taro Kono of Japan over the phone on September 15, during which the two top diplomats discussed their assessments of the situation regarding North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile earlier in the day and ways to respond to the provocation.

2. Minister Kang, bringing renewed attention to her mention of the high possibility of North Korea engaging in a further provocation in their telephone conversation held on the heels of the North Korean ballistic missile’s passage through Japanese airspace on August 29, condemned in the strongest terms North Korea for launching further provocations since then by conducting its sixth nuclear test and firing earlier in the day another ballistic missile that had passed through Japanese airspace.

3. Minister Kono, fully sharing the Republic of the Korea’s assessment of the situation, stressed that under the current circumstances where North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats are at an intolerable level, it is important for the ROK, the US and Japan to coordinate even more closely in various ways, including at the UN Security Council, in order for the international community to place more intense and effective pressure on the North.

4. The two Ministers agreed to continuously engage in close, strategic communication at diverse levels on such occasions as the UN General Assembly session next week.


* unofficial translation