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North Korea: German president condemns missile tests

Published November 4, 2022last updated November 4, 2022

During a visit to South Korea, Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticized the North for repeatedly jeopardizing international security and urged Pyongyang to resume talks.

https://p.dw.com/p/4J3OT
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, left, speaks as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol listens in Seoul
Steinmeier condemned North Korea's latest missile launches, saying they put international security at riskImage: Ahn Young-joon/AP/picture alliance

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier held talks with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul on Friday amid  escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

Steinmeier accused North Korea of repeatedly jeopardizing international security with its missile tests and urged Pyongyang to "begin serious negotiations" on dismantling its nuclear program.

After test launching 23 missiles on Wednesday, North Korea fired three more missiles into the Sea of Japan on Thursday.

Experts warn that this could be a prelude to another underground nuclear test.

"I think the Pyongyang regime is solely responsible for the current situation," Steinmeier said during a news conference after talks with the South Korean president. 

South Korea, the United States, and Japan have all condemned the launches.

One of the North Korean missiles fired on Wednesday breached the maritime boundary known as the Northern Limit Line off the east coast of the peninsula. It set off the first air raid alarms to sound in the South in six years, angering Seoul.

South Korea's brass said the military would remain vigilant against further provocations.

N Korea launches suspected long-range missile

The German president is also scheduled to meet South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

Steinmeier offers condolences for deadly stampede

Earlier on Friday, Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender laid white chrysanthemums at the official memorial of those killed in a deadly stampede in Seoul over the weekend.

On Saturday night, 156 people were killed and 82 other were injured in the crowd crush in the city's Itaewon district, where Halloween festivities were taking place.

Steinmeier offered Korea his "heartfelt" condolences on behalf of Germany. "Friendship shows itself not only in good times, but also in the sad times. And that applies to the friendship between Germany and Korea. We are at Korea's side in this sad hour."

"We mourn with the Korean people. Our thoughts are with them," Steinmeier said. "It is a personal concern for my wife and me to remember the victims here on site. Our sympathy lies with the relatives, with the friends of the victims who have lost their loved ones."

Steinmeier and Büdenbender landed in the South Korean capital on Thursday evening following an official visit to Japan.

ss/nm (dpa, Reuters)