South Korean President Moon Jae-in sought to rally support from other global leaders Friday in condemning North Korea for its recent missile provocation and ridding the communist state of its nuclear ambitions, his presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.
"It is not a scheduled topic for discussion, but as president of the Republic of Korea I cannot but talk to you about another serious challenge that urgently requires the joint interest and action of the G20," the South Korean president said in the Leaders'
Retreat on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit held in Hamburg, Germany, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"And that is North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations,"
he added, according to a script of his remarks released by Cheong Wa Dae.
Moon's remarks came after the communist North launched what it claimed to be its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) earlier in the week, prompting fresh condemnations from Seoul and its allies.
In a three-way meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Hamburg on Thursday, the South Korean leader was joined by his U.S. and Japanese counterparts in calling for stronger sanctions by the international community to bring North Korea to a dialogue table to discuss its denuclearization.
"To resolve the North Korean nuclear issue that has become a global threat, the international community will have to put enhanced pressure on North Korea," partly by issuing a new U.N.
Security Council resolution, Moon told other G20 leaders at their retreat.
"By doing so, we must make the North Korean regime realize that its nuclear arms and missiles will never guarantee its existence and come to the dialogue table," he added.
The South Korean president also rallied support for what he called the "clear determination" of G20 leaders to jointly address the issue at their gathering this week, apparently seeking a joint reaction or a statement from the global leaders condemning the North's missile provocations.
"I ask for you, G20 leaders' full interest and support," he said. (Yonhap)
