North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launches will be condemned by the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Samantha Power predicted following an emergency meeting.
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Japan’s defense ministry said the missile fell into the sea inside the country’s exclusive economic zone.
“It’s a serious threat against our country’s security”, Abe told reporters.
Kim Jong Un visits the newly-built combined fishing-tackle factory under the Korean People’s Army, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang, July 30, 2016.
According to a report from CBS News, North Korea has staged another missile launch, and this time, it barely missed Japan.
The statement was issued by the Pentagon after a videoconference meeting of the defense officials from the three countries.
The ballistic missile launch brought swift condemnation from the major governments of the region.
China’s U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi said that nothing should be done to exacerbate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. Strategic Command said it detected the simultaneous launch by the North of two missiles Wednesday morning, one of which exploded immediately after launch.
The main body of the missile landed in Japan’s economic exclusion zone, a Japanese defence official said, escalating regional tensions that were already high after a series of missile launches and the decision by the United States to place a sophisticated anti-missile system in South Korea.
The council has repeatedly condemned North Korea’s missile launches, but a US-drafted statement circulated last month following an apparent submarine-launched missile test was bogged down in discussion with China. North Korea is banned from developing or testing ballistic missiles under UN Security Council resolutions.
South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Oh Joon said that this year North Korea had conducted 13 rounds of ballistic missile tests, firing 29 various rockets.
Wednesday’s launch comes weeks after the United States and South Korea chose to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean peninsula, a decision that drew sharp criticism from North Korea.
South Korean protest against the decision to deploy THAAD.
The United States condemned the launch as a possible threat to US interests in the area Wednesday.
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The NY Times also cited the South Korean military as stating that the North’s “provocative” launch sends a message that Pyongyang can launch a ballistic missile in the future that is tipped with a nuclear warhead.
