South Korea engaged in a whirlwind of diplomacy this week to unite members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and international partners in standing together against evolving threats from North Korea.
In particular, Seoul managed to successfully persuade ASEAN to issue a joint statement condemning the North's intercontinental ballistic missile launch this week.
The test launch of Pyongyang's Hwasong-18 solid-fuel ICBM was conducted Wednesday morning while the annual ASEAN meetings, a major multilateral diplomacy event for the region, were under way in the capital of Indonesia.
The ASEAN foreign ministers' statement condemning Pyongyang's missile launch was issued just one day after the test firing.
In Indonesia, Foreign Minister Park Jin participated in four multilateral events -- the South Korea-ASEAN and ASEAN plus three meetings, the East Asia Summit ministerial gathering and the ASEAN Regional Forum -- along with bilateral and trilateral meetings on the sidelines.
Along with the Ukrainian War and Myanmar's internal crisis, North Korea was discussed as a major topic throughout the meetings that also brought together top officials of the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and other key nations.
During the back-to-back sessions, Park repeatedly condemned the North's continued provocations and highlighted that they were in clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
He also stressed the need for ASEAN and its partners to stand together in sending a clear message that the international community's determination to denuclearize the North is stronger than the North's will to arm itself with nuclear weapons.
The meetings were held behind closed doors, but an official familiar with the discussions said many ASEAN nations joined Seoul in denouncing Pyongyang.
Some of the language used by ASEAN nations in denouncing the North's actions reportedly included words and phrases such as "condemn," "great concern" and "multiple UNSC resolution violations."
South Korean officials in Jakarta were reportedly surprised by the reaction, given how many countries in the region have maintained diplomatic ties with North Korea.
Sources also said ASEAN members urged the North to return to dialogue during the discussions.
"There were many working-level consultations (on the North Korean issue). The North presumably fired a solid fuel ICBM so we had to actively engage with ASEAN partners to have strong language appear (in the ministers' statement)," a Seoul official said.
In a meeting with reporters Friday before leaving Jakarta, Park said he took note of how the ministers' statement was issued just moments before their talks with him Thursday.
"This goes to show that (the ASEAN members) see the situation on the Korean Peninsula and take the North's provocation very seriously," he said.
South Korea's activities at the ASEAN meetings were also highlighted by its trilateral foreign ministerial talks with the U.S. and Japan.
Park and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Antony Blinken and Yoshimasa Hayashi, respectively, met Friday evening and issued a joint statement denouncing the North's missile launch, ending South Korea's diplomatic pressure campaign against Pyongyang at ASEAN on a high note.
At home, meanwhile, Seoul announced fresh sanctions on the North, adding four individuals and three entities to its blacklist against Pyongyang as the ASEAN meetings proceeded.
North Korea's presence at the meetings, meanwhile, appeared low-key. At the ARF, Pyongyang was represented by An Kwang-il, its ambassador to Indonesia, instead of Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.
The North is a member of the region's largest security meeting. At the venue for the ARF, An avoided answering questions asked by South Korean reporters.
During the ARF session, An argued that the North's provocations were acts of self-defense taken in response to the combined military exercises by South Korea and the U.S., according to sources familiar with the discussions.
The ambassador also reportedly argued that the cause of problems related to tensions over the Korean Peninsula did not lie with the North but came from other places, they added.
He also reportedly insisted that its military provocations did not pose a threat to neighboring nations.
Before this year's ARF, observers had kept a close eye on a possible chance encounter between Park and Choe. The North Korean minister also did not attend last year's forum in Cambodia.
Instead, Park reportedly had a brief exchange with An while the head of the delegates paid a courtesy call on Indonesian President Joko Widodo. It was their second encounter following their first one in Cambodia last year.
Park was known to have said to An that it was important for the North to stop its missile launches and resume denuclearization talks for the peace of the Korean Peninsula. The North's ambassador reportedly did not show any particular reaction to Park's comments.
Source: Yonhap News Agency