Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON, 16th Jan. South Korea, the US and Japan top nukes envoys on Monday have condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.
According to South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff the North Korea test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Sunday in its first ballistic missile launch this year.
News media reported that North Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells near the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea from January 5 to 7.
Kim Gunn, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, spoke by phone to his US and Japan counterparts on Sunday Jung Pak and Hiroyuki Namazu to discuss the latest provocation, the ministry said.
The envoys denounced the launch as a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions that threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region.
They pointed out the North’s illicit provocations as the “root causes” of instability in the region, the three sides emphasized their trilateral cooperation will be bolstered even further as North Korea escalates its provocations.
They agreed to keep close tabs on North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui’s visit to Russia this week amid deepening military cooperation between the two countries.
