S.Korea, US and Japan nuclear envoys condemn North Korea over arms trade with Russia

U.S. Deputy Special Representative Jung Pak speaks to Kim Gunn, Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security (not pictured), and Namazu Hiroyuki, Japan's director-general and assistant minister of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau (not pictured), during their trilateral meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. Ahn Young-joon/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) - The nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States, and Japan condemned North Korea for its recent missile tests, arms trade with Russia and increasingly hostile rhetoric at a meeting in Seoul on Thursday.

Pyongyang's transfer of short-range ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine, and human rights violations against North Koreans, demand attention and coordinated action, Jung Pak, U.S. senior official for North Korea, said in an opening statement.