Tokyo, Nov 5
Japan, South Korea, and the United States on Tuesday jointly condemned North Korea's launch of multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, citing serious threats to regional and global security.
In a high-level Japan-US-South Korea phone conference, Japanese Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director-General Okochi Akihiro, South Korea's Korean Peninsula Policy Director Lee Jun-il and the US Director for Korea and Mongolia Affairs Seth Bailey strongly criticised the North Korean actions.
According to a statement released by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the officials reaffirmed that these launches are a "direct violation" of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. They "strongly condemned" the act, calling it "a threat to regional peace and security" and reaffirmed close coordination among the three countries.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) detected the missile launches from North Korea's Sariwon area in North Hwanghae Province around 7:30 am Tuesday. The missiles travelled approximately 400 kilometres before plunging into the sea. The JCS indicated that the launches likely involved the North's KN-25 600-millimetre multiple rocket launchers, capable of targetting any location in South Korea.
This show of force carried out just hours before the US presidential election, comes amid speculation that North Korea is asserting its nuclear capabilities to gain international attention.
South Korean officials have previously cautioned that North Korea might escalate its weapons tests around the US election as part of a calculated strategy.