US condemns N. Korea's ballistic missile launches
A person watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul, March 18. Yonhap
The United States on Sunday condemned North Korea's ballistic missile launches this week as a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions, and called for the recalcitrant regime to return to dialogue.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the North fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Monday morning (Korea time), days after Seoul and Washington concluded their major springtime military exercise.
"The United States condemns the DPRK's March 17 ballistic missile launches. These launches, like the other ballistic missile launches in recent years, are in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," a State Department spokesperson said in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency.
DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The spokesperson stressed that the launches pose a threat to the North's neighbors and undermine regional security.
"We remain committed to a diplomatic approach to the DPRK and call on the DPRK to engage in dialogue," the official said. "Our commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad."
The latest launches came as Seoul is set to host the third Summit for Democracy, a U.S.-led initiative to promote solidarity among democracies, from Monday through Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Seoul to attend the ministerial segment of the forum, while U.S. President Joe Biden is set to attend it virtually. (Yonhap)