Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, chairing Wednesday’s meeting with China’s Wang Yi and South Korea’s Yu Byung-se, said North Korea’s missile launch “simply can not be tolerated”. South Korea and th.
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Recent broadcasts have included mentions of Thae Yong Ho, the former second-highest-ranking diplomat at North Korea’s London embassy, who defected to South Korea earlier this month.
“We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and global obligations”, Ross said.
The South’s military said it “seemed to be aimed at raising military tension in response to the Seoul-Washington military drill”, the Yonhap news agency reports.
The launch of a presumed KN-11 submarine-launched ballistic missile occurred off the coast of Sinpo, where a submarine base is located according to satellite imagery.
Earlier in the day, local analysts said the latest missile launch can be viewed as a success.
This was the first time a North Korean missile entered Japan’s air defense identification zone, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
The launch came amid escalating cross-border tensions and after tens of thousands of South Korean and U.S. troops kicked off their annual “Ulchi Freedom” military drill on Monday. South Korea and the United States.
“We have confirmed that we will urge North Korea to exercise self-restraint regarding its provocative action, and to observe the UN Security Council’s resolutions”, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a news conference after hosting a trilateral meeting with his Chinese and South Korean counterparts.
The missile traveled about 300 miles (482 kilometers), according to the USA military, before falling into the sea.
The Joint Chiefs of staff said the test was clearly aimed at fuelling tensions and was a “serious challenge” to security on the Korean peninsula, as well as a grave breach of United Nations resolutions.
North Korea on Monday condemned the drill as an “unpardonable criminal act”, and warned that any violation of territorial sovereignty would result in a “pre-emptive nuclear strike”.
Some civilian experts said they believe the North already has the technology to put warheads on shorter-range missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan.
The military said the missile flew about 500 kilometers, which is an improvement compared with past launches.
On Tuesday, North Korea’s U.N. ambassador Jan Song Nam sent a letter to the president of the United Nations Security Council requesting an urgent council meeting, accusing the USA of “creating the danger of war” with the annual drills which began Monday.
Panmunjom, jointly overseen by North Korea and the UN Command, is where an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War was signed.
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Much of the border, one of the world’s most risky flashpoints, is strewn with land mines and laced with barbed wire.
