US House Delegation Calls North Korea's Filth Balloon Release "Despicable and Unacceptable"

The U.S. House of Representatives delegation attending the 21st Asia Security Conference (Shangri-La Dialogue) held in Singapore met with Defense Minister Shin Won-sik on the 1st and condemned North Korea's release of 'filth balloons,' the Ministry of National Defense reported.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Minister Shin and Representatives Michael McCaul, Young Kim, Joe Wilson (all Republicans), Gregory Meeks, and Joe Courtney (all Democrats) condemned North Korea's filth balloon release as a "despicable and unacceptable act."

Both sides also emphasized that North Korea's recent attempt to launch a military reconnaissance satellite is a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Furthermore, Minister Shin expressed gratitude to the U.S. House delegation for their help in firmly advancing the South Korea-U.S. alliance and requested congressional attention to strengthen the 'combined extended deterrence' in response to North Korean provocations.

The U.S. House delegation promised to support further development of the South Korea-U.S. alliance in the future.

Subsequently, Minister Shin held a bilateral meeting with Khaled bin Hussein Al-Biyari, Deputy Minister of Defense for Saudi Arabia. Deputy Minister Khaled emphasized that the environment for mid- to long-term defense industry cooperation between South Korea and Saudi Arabia was established through Minister Shin's visit to Saudi Arabia in February and stressed the importance of continuing to develop cooperation in various fields.

Minister Shin responded by stating that based on the 'Mid- to Long-Term Defense Industry Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding' signed in February, both sides should produce results from ongoing cooperative projects and strengthen cooperation in defense exchanges such as education and training.

The Ministry of National Defense stated that both sides agreed to further expand defense and defense industry cooperation between the two countries through future South Korea-Saudi Arabia defense ministerial talks.