North Korea The Secretaries and Ministers reaffirmed the Alliance’s commitment to countering the accelerating threat to peace and security posed by North Korea’s repeated and flagrant violations of its international obligations and commitments. They condemned in the strongest possible terms North Korea’s unprecedented level of nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches in 2016, including its fourth and fifth nuclear tests; its 23 short-range, medium-range, intermediate-range, long-range, and submarinelaunched ballistic missile launches; and its admission it is producing fissile material – including highly enriched uranium – for nuclear weapons. These actions are destabilizing to the region and clear violations of numerous UN Security Council resolutions. The officials believe the international community must be united in seeking all necessary measures with utmost urgency and determination to urge North Korea to fulfill its international obligations and commitments, cease all activities related to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs immediately, and abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, as well as other existing weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner. They shared the view that the rapid advancement of North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities constitute a direct threat to both countries and other countries in the region. Based on the common understanding of the gravity and urgency of the North Korean threat, they discussed concrete measures the United States and the ROK can take to counter those threats. The Secretaries and Ministers reiterated their commitment to impose real costs and consequences on the North Korean regime for its provocative and destabilizing actions through multilateral, cooperative, bilateral, and national measures aimed at stopping North Korea’s advancement of its nuclear and missile capabilities, and compelling the regime to return to authentic and credible negotiations on denuclearization. They recalled the commitments set forth in the “2015 Republic of Korea and United States of America Joint Statement on North Korea.” The Secretaries and the Ministers reaffirmed that the United States and the ROK would continue to work closely to implement fully UN Security Council Resolution 2270, which imposed the strongest sanctions yet on North Korea. They stressed the importance of increased international pressure to compel North Korea to cease its destabilizing behavior that threatens regional security and the global nonproliferation regime. They also highlighted the importance of swift Security Council action to adopt a new resolution to further strengthen our international response to North Korea’s unlawful September 9 nuclear test. The officials discussed efforts to encourage third countries to review the full scope of their ties and relationships with North Korea and noted countries which host North Korean laborers have a responsibility to ensure their wages will not support North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missiles programs. The Secretaries and the Ministers underscored their concern for the well-being of the North Korean people due to the regime’s many human rights abuses. They noted the diversion of North Korea’s resources to nuclear and missile development were further deepening its isolation and aggravating the hardship of the people suffering under Kim Jong Un and his regime. They also welcomed international efforts to draw attention to North Korea’s systematic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights. The officials discussed ways to highlight further the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea, including the activities of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul, the implementation of the recently enacted North Korea Human Rights Act, the recent appointment of the ROK Ambassador for North Korean Human Rights, and the launch of the bilateral North Korean Human 3/6