The United States warned Pyongyang that there will be “consequences” for its missile launches

The United States warned North Korea on Wednesday that its missile launch program will have “consequences”, although at the same time it reached out to Pyongyang to “dialogue” and expressed its willingness to listen to its “concerns.”

According to Joe Biden's government, Pyongyang has carried out 13 launches so far this year, three of which were ICBMs, with a long range of more than 5,500 kilometers.

A senior administration official explained in a call with journalists that he suspects that North Korea is organizing “new provocations” for this month and stated that Washington is “preparing” for it in coordination with its partners in Seoul and Tokyo.

“All our actions are aimed at making it clear to North Korea that its escalation has consequences and that the international community will never accept its weapons development program as normal,” he said.

The same source recalled that the US Treasury Department has already imposed sanctions to prevent North Korea from accessing technology that would allow it to develop its missile program.

The official told Pyongyang that “the only viable option is dialogue”, that Washington does not have a “hostile” attitude towards North Korea and that Joe Biden's administration is willing to “listen to Pyongyang's concerns”.

“We remain committed to the path of dialogue and we hope that North Koreans will accept our invitation to engage in serious and uninterrupted dialogue to advance shared goals, including the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he said.

For their part, the US Special Envoy for North Korea, Sung Kim, and his South Korean counterpart, Noh Kyu-duk, discussed Pyongyang's latest ICBM test and Washington's efforts to continue to seek a serious and sustained dialogue with North Korea.

Sung Kim underlined “America's strong commitment to the security of the Republic of Korea, while reaffirming that the United States continues to seek a serious and sustained dialogue with North Korea,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price explained in a statement.

In this regard, Kim stressed the importance of “close bilateral coordination with the Republic of Korea and other allies and partners” to advance the common goal of the complete “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.

“Both have condemned the launch of ICBMs by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on March 24, which was just the latest in a series of increasingly chilling North Korea launches this year. They also reaffirmed the importance of a strong and unified response to these escalatory actions,” the statement said.

The United States attempted on March 25 at the UN Security Council to tighten sanctions against North Korea, but Russia and China opposed and insisted on reducing punishments to stimulate negotiations with Pyongyang.

In this regard, the US official called on Moscow and Beijing to work with the United States to “send a clear message” that North Korea's launches are “unacceptable.”

He especially stressed that China, an ally of Pyongyang, shares “interest in maintaining stability on the Korean peninsula.”

With information from EFE

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