By Jun Ji-hye
Defense officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a video teleconference, Friday, to discuss measures to deal with North Korea’s continuing missile provocations.
The meeting came after the North fired two medium-range Nodong ballistic missiles, Wednesday. One of the missiles landed in Japanese-controlled waters after traveling around 1,000 kilometers.
Those who participated in the teleconference included Park Cheol-kyun, deputy director general for Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense’s International Policy Bureau; Christopher Johnstone, principal director for East Asia at the U.S. Department of Defense; and Koji Kano, principal director of the defense policy bureau at the Japanese Defense Ministry.
“The three countries shared the assessment that the North’s latest missile launch was a clear provocation that violated United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and severely threatened stability on the Korean Peninsula as well as in the Asia-Pacific region,” Seoul’s ministry said in a press release. “The three countries agreed to continue to closely cooperate and share information on North Korean missiles.”
According to Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, Wednesday, one of the missiles was analyzed to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 250 kilometers west of the Oga Peninsula in Akita Prefecture.
This was the first time a North Korean ballistic missile had landed in Japan’s EEZ.
Military officials here believe that Pyongyang apparently attempted to display its ability to strike any target in Japan, especially bases of the U.S. armed forces stationed there whose troops would be dispatched to the peninsula in the event of war.
The repressive state has shown no signs of abandoning its nuclear and ballistic missile programs by repeatedly launching missiles, including the intermediate-range Musudan, believed to be capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam, as well as a submarine-launched ballistic missile, despite sanctions from the UNSC.