On Saturday, Park told those gathered at a business forum held in Vladivostok, Russia, “If we can not prevent North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, the nuclear threat will become a reality soon”.
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Such tests are fairly common when global attention is turned to Northeast Asia, and this one came as world leaders gathered in eastern China for the G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies.
Mr Park said a nuclear test and continued missile launches are fundamentally threatening the security of the Korean Peninsula.
Obama said the latest launches were provocative and that the country needed to know such actions would increase its isolation in the world.
Kirby said the USA will raise its concerns at the United Nations about the threat posed to worldwide security by these programs.
With Xi using the meeting to oppose South Korea’s decision to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile battery on the peninsula, it’s possible the the North’s missile launches embarrassed Beijing, further justifying the need for Seoul to take defensive action.
The missiles were fired from a region south of the capital Pyongyang just after noon (0300 GMT) and flew about 1,000 km (600 miles), hitting Japan’s air defence identification zone, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said they fell off the northwestern coast of Hokkaido.
Most recently, the isolated communist regime test-fired three ballistic missiles into the East Sea in a new show of force days ahead of the 68th anniversary of its government’s establishment which falls on Friday.
In January, North Korea said it had successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb, its fourth nuclear test, and vowed to build up its nuclear program as deterrence against potential aggression from the U.S. and its regional allies.
The United States strongly condemns North Korea’s launch of three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. President Barack Obama headed to Laos on Monday evening.
Japan’s Defense Ministry condemned the launches.
“Mishandling the issue is not conducive to strategic stability in the region and could intensify disputes”, Xinhua quoted Mr Xi as telling Ms Park in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
Seoul’s Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday that South Korea’s representative to the six-party talks, Kim Hong-kyun, and his US counterpart Sung Kim are expected to discuss ways to counter North Korea’s threats next week during talks in Seoul. Pyongyang’s submarine-launched ballistic missile last month also flew about 80 kilometers into Japanese airspace.
“Looking at the fact that the three missiles have landed on nearly the same spot at nearly the same time, I think their missile technology has substantially improved”, she said.
The state media outlet reported remarks from Kim which also suggested the possibility for ongoing ballistic missile tests throughout the year, in line with what analysts view as a major push from Pyongyang to develop a credible nuclear deterrent as rapidly as possible.
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Pyongyang has conducted a fourth nuclear test and a series of missile tests this year in defiance of United Nations sanctions, prompting Seoul to announce plans to deploy a USA anti-missile system to counter such threats.
