On the 26th, the United States, South Korea, and Japan issued a strong condemnation of North Korea’s ballistic missile launch, describing it as a provocative act that threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and globally.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Korean Peninsula Policy Lee Jun Il held a trilateral telephone consultation with the U.S. State Department Senior Official for North Korea Jung H. Pak and Councilor of Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Hamamoto Yukiya. The three representatives shared their assessments of North Korea’s ballistic missile launch and discussed cooperation measures, criticizing, “North Korea’s ballistic missile launch constitutes a blatant violation of several UN Security Council resolutions and poses a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the international community.”
They also emphasized the importance of vigilance against additional potential provocations by North Korea after the North Korea-Russia summit. The three nations affirmed their commitment to maintaining close cooperation to firmly respond to North Korea’s provocations and threats, leveraging the strong alliances between South Korea and the U.S., as well as trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan.
Lee emphasized, “Our government remains steadfast in maintaining a robust and vigilant posture against any provocations from North Korea, and will do everything possible for the safety of our people and national security.” According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the South Korean military detected a ballistic missile, presumed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) with a solid fuel propulsion system, launched by North Korea from the vicinity of Pyongyang towards the East Sea around 5:30 AM that day. However, this ballistic missile failed to complete a normal flight.
North Korea also launched trash balloons toward South Korea on the 24th and 25th. It has continued its provocations for three consecutive days, culminating in the missile launch on this day.