Yoon calls for more efforts to crack down on N. Korea financing nuclear, missile programs

SEOGWIPO, South Korea, May 30 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday urged strengthened cooperation to crack down on illegal financing by North Korea to advance its nuclear and missile programs, in spite of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.

Yoon made the remarks at a high-level forum of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which is aimed at countering the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), on the country's southern resort island of Jeju.

"Despite U.N. Security Council sanctions, North Korea continues to illegally finance its nuclear and missiles programs," Yoon said via video message at the forum. "Our cooperation needs to become more robust to respond to such (threats)."

Yoon stressed that the proliferation of WMD can pose a "serious threat" to international peace in the wake of North Korea's "unprecedented" threats, saying the PSI forum is "becoming all the more important."

In a separate message, U.S. President Joe Biden highlighted the importance of the PSI meeting, saying the commitment to preventing, countering and ending the spread of WMD is "needed now more than ever."

"Around the world, a growing number of nations continue to challenge the global security architecture that monitors and enforces norms against the spread of weapons of mass destruction," he said in the message delivered by Bonnie Jenkins, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security at the U.S. State Department, who attended the forum.

Biden also urged the participating countries to "recommit" to deepening interdiction together, stressing that "no nation acting alone can address these challenges."

In her opening remarks, Jenkins noted that upholding their common commitment to counterproliferation and to ensuring that WMD interdiction remains the global norm has "never been more important."

Seoul's Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon called for efforts to combat proliferation, as the "tactics of the proliferators are evolving as clearly illustrated by the case of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," referring to the North's recent announcement of its plans to launch a military spy satellite in June.

"Regardless of what the regime calls it, there is no denying that this constitutes a flagrant violation of the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit any launch using ballistic missile technology," he said. "We strongly urge Pyongyang to refrain from this unlawful act."

Lee added that Pyongyang is also financing its WMD programs through sanctions, evasion tactics, including illegal ship-to-ship transfers, income from overseas workers and illicit cyber activities.

The forum is to consist of three sessions chaired, respectively, by Lee, Jenkins and Sarah Roberts, assistant secretary of arms control and counter-proliferation of Australia.

Delegates from over 70 countries will participate in the meeting, including the United States, Japan and Australia.

The PSI was launched in 2003 under the George W. Bush administration to stop the trafficking of WMD, their delivery systems and related materials. The PSI holds a high-level political meeting every five years to review and set guidelines for the initiative.

This year's meeting, which marks the first time for an Asian country to host such a meeting, comes amid concerns over the North's planned launch of its first military reconnaissance satellite next month.