Minister Kang Shin-cheol strongly condemns North Korea’s ‘missile provocation’ in real time at ASEAN forum: “North Korea, stop your provocations and engage in dialogue”

[Financial News] Defense Minister Kang Shin-cheol, appearing at his first multilateral security diplomacy forum since taking office, expressed his commitment to “building peace for future generations” before a gathering of defense chiefs from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Indo-Pacific region. His address to the plenary unfolded in real time against a security backdrop in which North Korea had launched a surprise barrage of around 10 missiles, including short-range ballistic missiles, into the East Sea. Kang immediately and forcefully condemned North Korea’s show of force from the venue, and also exposed its landmine provocation along the Military Demarcation Line as a violation of the Armistice Agreement, telling the international community that restoring communication channels between the two Koreas was the safeguard needed to control crises.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, Minister Kang Shin-cheol attended the plenary session of the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), held in the Philippines on the 29th, where he carefully assessed the regional security situation and discussed practical defense cooperation between the Republic of Korea and ASEAN for peace and stability. The meeting brought together defense ministers and senior officials from major countries representing more than half of the world’s population, including the 11 ASEAN member states and dialogue partners such as the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
In his plenary address that day, Minister Kang quoted the saying “The object of war is a better peace” by the renowned British strategist Liddell Hart, as well as Aristotle’s ideas on community. “Security cooperation between nations must go beyond preventing war; we must work together to build peace and prosperity for future generations,” Kang said, underscoring the need for dialogue and practical cooperation.
When North Korea staged a provocation during the plenary by suddenly launching around 10 missiles, including short-range ballistic missiles, into the East Sea, Minister Kang condemned the act, stressing that it posed a grave threat that undermined security not only on the Korean Peninsula but throughout the region. He also referred to the landmine explosion involving North Korean troops south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) last September, saying, “This is a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement and an act of provocation.” Kang said, “When communication is cut off, there is a high risk that misunderstandings and mistrust will escalate into further clashes,” and urged North Korea to respond promptly to the inter-Korean military talks proposed by the Republic of Korea government twice, last year and this year, and come to the table for dialogue.
As a philosophical basis for overcoming these security crises, Minister Kang put forward Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace” and proposed three directions for advancing defense cooperation: expanding trust between nations, complying with international norms, and strengthening regional security safety nets.
To begin with, to expand trust, the Republic of Korea will maintain a robust combined defense posture based on the ROK-U.S. Alliance while significantly expanding education and training cooperation to develop future defense leaders, including by establishing a commissioned training program at a military academy for Timor-Leste, ASEAN’s newest member.
On compliance with international norms, the Republic of Korea reaffirmed its longstanding principled position, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), that freedom of navigation and overflight must be guaranteed in major maritime areas, including the South China Sea. To put this into practice, it announced a concrete timeline to pursue the first-ever ROK-ASEAN joint maritime exercise in 2027.
It also announced that the Republic of Korea is set to assume the role of co-chair of the ADMM-Plus Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Experts’ Working Group starting in 2027, as part of efforts to build security safety nets against complex, nontraditional threats such as cyberattacks and large-scale disasters.

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