S Korea, US, Japan discuss N Korea nuke concerns

Nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan and the United States met in Seoul on Wednesday, seeking a way forward to revive long-stalled, six-party talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons programme.

The effort comes as North Korea ramps up its nuclear rhetoric, boasting last week of its ability to miniaturise a nuclear warhead to fit on high-precision, long-range rockets.Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, said today’s dialogue was particularly timely given what he described as an “uncertain and tense” situation in North Korea.

“We are also facing the continuing advancement of North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities,” Hwang said before the meeting with Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea policy, and Junichi Ihara, a regional director-general in the Japanese foreign ministry.

As well as last week’s claim that the nation was capable of miniaturising nuclear warheads, Pyongyang recently hailed the “historic” test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

But outside experts said state media reports of the test were exaggerated and estimated that the North was still years from developing a genuine SLBM capability.