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By Hugh Cameron
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An organization of 10 Asian states has denounced Kim Jong Un's ballistic missile tests and called for an increased focus on "lasting peace and stability in a denuclearized Korean Peninsula."
Between Thursday and Saturday, foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Vientiane, Laos, for an annual summit to discuss strengthening cooperation in Southeast Asia, as well as to deliberate on "current international and regional security issues." In a joint communiqué, the countries expressed "grave concern over the recent surge in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile testing."
The statement called the tests "a worrisome development that threatens peace and stability in the region," and advocated "continued peaceful dialogue among all concerned parties in order to realize lasting peace and stability in a denuclearized Korean Peninsula."
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Newsweek contacted the embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in London for comment on the statement.
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ASEAN is an intergovernmental coalition of 10 Southeast Asian Nations, formed in 1967 to promote "greater political, security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation," according to its charter.
During the summit, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also delivered a speech in which he warned that the DPRK's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs challenged the "shared vision" of "an Indo-Pacific that is free, that's prosperous, that's secure, that's connected, and resilient."
The coalition's warning comes amid a proliferation of North Korean missile tests, and increasingly aggressive posturing by the isolated state toward the West and its neighbors.
In early July, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said that the regime had "successfully conducted" the launch of two KN-23 tactical ballistic missiles in late June.
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The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff claimed that one missile landed near North Korea's tripoint border with Russia and China, while the other had flown off course and ended up near the nation's capital of Pyongyang.
Last week, South Korean National Defense Minister Shin Won-sik warned that Pyongyang was moving ahead with the development of a tactical nuclear weapon, which he said was "in the final stages."
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This chart, provided by Statista, shows ballistic missile tests in North Korea, by full year and range.
These developments come as tensions continue to escalate at the inter-Korean border.
The countries have been engaged in the exchange of propaganda leaflets and trash balloons for over two months, one of the latter landing in in the compound of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff also warned that Kim Jong Un is ordering his army to place mines along the border's 160-mile-long demilitarized zone, as well as to block the border with anti-tank barriers, which NK News said was a demonstration of preparedness for a confrontation with the South.
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