US 'strongly' condemns NK's ICBM test, vows to ensure security of S. Korea, Japan: White House
This photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency shows a fired intercontinental ballistic missile, July 12. Yonhap
The United States "strongly" condemns North Korea's test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) this week, a White House official said Wednesday, calling it a "flagrant" breach of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
National Security Council Spokesperson Sean Savett made the remarks, pledging that Washington will take "all necessary measures" to ensure the security of the U.S. homeland, South Korea and Japan.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Pyongyang fired an apparent ICBM on a lofted trajectory toward the East Sea on Thursday morning (Korea time), hours after the defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. condemned the North's troop dispatch to Russia "in the strongest terms with one voice."
"The United States strongly condemns the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) intercontinental ballistic missile test. This launch is a flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions," Savett said in a statement. DPRK stands for the North's official name.
"While U.S. INDOPACOM has assessed it did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies, this launch needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region," he added.
Savett noted that the test "only demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people."
"We urge all countries to condemn these violations and call on the DPRK to cease its destabilizing actions and engage in serious dialogue," the official said. "The national security team is closely coordinating with our allies and partners."
Separately, a State Department spokesperson stressed that the North's missile launch poses a threat to regional and international peace and security and undermines the global nonproliferation regime.
"We continue to consult closely with our allies and partners about how best to deter DPRK aggression and coordinate international responses to the DPRK's violations of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions," the spokesperson said in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency.
"Our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan is ironclad," the official added, referring to South Korea by its official name. (Yonhap)