US, South Korea, Japan condemn North Korean missile launches

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - National security leaders from the US, Japan and South Korea condemned on Thursday the latest round of North Korean ballistic missile launches, vowing to remain in lockstep with one another in response.

Japanese National Security Secretariat Secretary General Akiba Takeo, South Korea National Security Advisor Cho Tae-yong, and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the launches "are clear violations of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, and demonstrate the threat the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction."

They continued to appeal for action from the UN Security Council, but that appears unlikely to generate much traction. Russia and China have repeatedly used their status as permanent members of the body to block the council from penalizing Pyongyang.

The nations in May 2022 blocked a resolution that would have tightened existing sanctions in response to ballistic missile tests last year that fan afoul of the council's resolutions. All 13 of the body's other members voted in favor.

China and Russia have provided diplomatic support to North Korea, shielding it by blocking the issuance of press statements.

Earlier on Thursday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles that landed within Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to local media reports. North Korea last conducted a missile launch on April 13.

The most recent round of launches "demonstrates the need for all countries to fully implement DPRK-related UN Security Council resolutions that are intended to prohibit the DPRK from acquiring the technologies and materials needed to carry out these destabilizing launches," the US, Japan and South Korea (ROK) said.

"The United States reaffirms unequivocally its ironclad security commitments to both Japan and the ROK," the nations added in a statement issued after their national security leaders met in Tokyo.

During that meeting, Sullivan, Akiba, and Cho "discussed ways to further strengthen trilateral cooperation, including through lock-step coordination in responding to the threats posed by the DPRK’s illicit nuclear and missile programs."

"They also affirmed that Japan-ROK-U.S. cooperation would not be shaken by provocations and shared their belief that the DPRK should take the path of diplomacy rather than continued provocations," they added.