On Sunday, South Korea’s top nuclear envoy spoke via phone with his US and Japanese counterparts about North Korea’s earlier-in-the-day launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.
As per Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, Noh Kyu-duk, and his American counterpart, Sung Kim, denounced the North’s latest missile launch as a challenge to the international community’s efforts to diplomatically resolve the Korean peninsula issue, as well as UN Security Council resolutions.
“(The two sides) agreed to preserve the overall security based on the strong South Korea-US partnership and to maintain efforts to resume engagement with North Korea as soon as possible,” the Ministry said in a statement.
Noh also spoke with his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, on the phone, and the two agreed to maintain “tight communications and coordination” in order to keep the situation on the peninsula under control.
According to South Korea’s military, North Korea launched the missile from the northern province of Jagang at 7.52 a.m., and it flew roughly 800 kilometres at a top altitude of 2,000 kilometres.
It was the North’s eighth show of power this year, and by far its most significant missile test since the launch of an intercontinental missile in November 2017.
Pyongyang looks to be moving closer to implementing its earlier warning to suspend a self-imposed ban on nuclear and lengthy ballistic missile testing due to a breakdown in nuclear talks with the United States.
