Korea-US and Korea-Japan North Korea Nuclear Representatives: "UN Security Council Must Clearly Respond to North Korea's ICBM"

"Condemnation of SRBM Followed by ICBM Launch Despite Repeated Warnings from the International Community"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The senior representatives for North Korea's nuclear issue from South Korea, the United States, and Japan stated on the 18th that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must respond clearly to North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Korea's senior representative for the North Korean nuclear issue, Kim Gun, head of the Korea Peace Negotiation Headquarters, held separate phone consultations on the same day with Sung Kim, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, and Takehiro Funakoshi (船越健裕), Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The senior representatives of the three countries strongly condemned North Korea for seriously threatening peace and stability in the region and the international community as a whole by launching an ICBM just one day after firing a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), despite repeated warnings from the international community. They agreed that North Korea's ICBM launch clearly violates multiple UNSC resolutions and that the Security Council must unite and respond decisively to North Korea's illegal provocations.

They also emphasized that North Korea's provocations only lead to strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance's deterrence against North Korea and the security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, and that the international community will respond firmly as North Korea continues its provocations.

The senior representatives of the three countries agreed to thoroughly prepare for the possibility of further provocations by North Korea and to continue strengthening close bilateral and trilateral cooperation for firm and unified responses by the international community, including at the UNSC level.

North Korea launched one ICBM, presumed to be the 'Hwasong-17,' into the East Sea on the morning of the day, following the launch of an SRBM eight days earlier.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.