Foreign Minister Taro Kono warns against North Korea’s ‘smile diplomacy’ after military parade

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, BRUNEI – Foreign Minister Taro Kono on Sunday warned against falling for North Korea’s “smile diplomacy” during its rapprochement with South Korea, stressing that Pyongyang remains committed to developing nuclear weapons and missiles.

“Without being swayed by smile diplomacy, Japan will firmly coordinate with (the United States and South Korea) toward the ultimate goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula,” Kono told reporters in Brunei’s capital Bandar Seri Begawan, a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister and close aide, Kim Yo Jong.

North Korea conducted a military parade “on the eve of the opening of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as if to show off its missiles. Its intention regarding nuclear and missiles development has not changed,” Kono said.

In her meeting with Moon, Kim Yo Jong, part of North Korea’s high-level delegation to the opening ceremony, delivered a letter from her brother and invited the president to visit the North.

Tokyo has been concerned that Seoul’s conciliatory stance toward Pyongyang could endanger trilateral cooperation with the United States to pressure North Korea to compel it to give up its nuclear weapons and missile ambitions.

In Brunei, Kono met with Erywan Yusof, the second minister of foreign affairs and trade, on Sunday.

During the talks, Kono stressed the importance of Brunei’s cooperation with the “free and open Indo-Pacific” strategy espoused by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Erywan responded by saying Brunei will deepen its understanding of the strategy by cooperating with Japan, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Under the strategy, Japan wants to ensure a rules-based order in a vast area stretching from East Asia to Africa in an apparent bid to counter China’s rising clout in the region.

Kono’s visit to Brunei was the first by a Japanese foreign minister in five years. Brunei, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is the ASEAN’s coordinating country for Japan.