
The nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan condemned North Korea's latest missile launch in their phone talks Monday, vowing close coordination against any future provocations by the recalcitrant regime.
Lee Jun-il, director general for Korean Peninsula policy, discussed the North's launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Seth Bailey and Akihiro Okochi, respectively, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The South's military said the North fired a suspected hypersonic missile into the East Sea, marking its first provocation this year ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
The launch also coincided with bilateral talks between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul in Seoul.
"The envoys condemned that North Korea conducted the ballistic missile launch while the South Korea-U.S. foreign ministerial meeting was taking place in Seoul," the ministry said in a release.
"It constitutes a clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and poses a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the international community," the ministry said.
The three sides agreed to continue coordination to firmly respond to provocations by Pyongyang, based on the solid South Korea-U.S. alliance and the trilateral security cooperation involving Japan. (Yonhap)