US, S. Korea and Japan condemn N. Korea's latest missile provocation
South Korea's National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong speaks to reporters at Tokyo's Haneda airport after arriving in the Japanese capital to hold talks with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Japan's National Security Secretariat Secretary General Takeo Akiba for discussions on North Korea, as well as key regional and international issues, June 14. Yonhap
The top national security advisers of South Korea, Japan and the United States condemned North Korea's missile launches Thursday, calling them "clear violations" of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.
They also vowed stepped up efforts to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, according to a joint statement released by the White House.
"The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea condemn today's DPRK missile launches," said the released statement, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"These launches are clear violations of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, and demonstrate the threat the DPRK's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs pose to the region, international peace and security, and the global non-proliferation regime," it added.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
The joint condemnation came hours after Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles, following its failed attempt to launch what it claimed to be a military reconnaissance satellite on May 31.
The security advisers stressed the need "for all countries to fully implement DPRK-related U.N. Security Council resolutions that are intended to prohibit the DPRK from acquiring the technologies and materials needed to carry out these destabilizing launches."
U.S. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., Dec. 12, 2022. Reuters-Yonhap
"The United States reaffirms unequivocally its ironclad security commitments to both Japan and the ROK," they added.
The joint statement came as U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts ― Cho Tae-yong and Takeo Akiba, respectively ― in Tokyo for trilateral talks that largely focused on the threat posed by North Korea.
Pyongyang said it will try again to launch a space launch vehicle carrying its first military spy satellite.
The country is prohibited from acquiring or using any ballistic missile technology, including space launch vehicles, under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The national security advisers urged North Korea to engage in diplomacy, saying trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the U.S. will "not be shaken by provocations."
Later, a state department spokesperson echoed criticism of North Korea's latest missile provocation.
"They demonstrate the threat the DPRK's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs pose to the region, to international peace and security and to the global nonproliferation regime," department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily press briefing.
In a related move, the U.S. imposed sanctions on two China-based North Korean nationals earlier in the day for working to procure materials and funds for North Korea's illegal weapons development programs. (Yonhap)