TOKYO, July 29. /TASS/. The heads of foreign ministries of QUAD countries (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, unites Australia, India, the United States and Japan) condemn the actions that Pyongyang takes in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, according to the joint statement following the results of the meeting, distributed by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We condemn North Korea's destabilizing launches using ballistic missile technology and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). We express our grave concern over North Korea's use of proliferation [of nuclear weapons] linkages, malicious cyber activity and [the use of] workers abroad to fund its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," the statement says.
Despite accusations about the alleged cooperation of Moscow and Pyongyang, which have been repeatedly voiced in the West and in Japan, Russia is not mentioned in the point about North Korea. These allegations have been denied both by Russia and North Korea. "We stress the need to prevent any proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies related to North Korea in the region and beyond. In that context, we urge all UN Member States to abide by the related UNSCRs including the prohibition on the transfer to North Korea or procurement from North Korea of all arms and related materiel," the ministers added.
In addition, they expressed their commitment to comply with all UN Security Council resolutions, which "remain in full force," and also called for resolving the problem of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea. Solving this problem is one of Tokyo's main foreign policy priorities.
QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) was founded in 2007 as an interaction mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean area. In November 2017, four countries formed a coalition as part of a new strategy to ensure the safety of shipping routes in the Asia-Pacific region. The first quadrilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Australia, India, the USA and Japan was held in September 2019 in New York. The first summit of "the Quartet" was held in March 2021.