South Korean, U.S. and Japanese diplomatic officials held a telephone consultation on Aug. 12 to discuss their response to North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile into waters off its east coast.
According to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, Baek Yong-jin, director-general for Korean Peninsula policy, held the call with David Wylezol, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and Korea in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Takashi Ariyoshi, deputy director-general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at Japan’s Foreign Ministry.
The officials shared information and assessments regarding North Korea’s ballistic missile launch and discussed possible responses.
Following the consultation, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the three countries reaffirmed that North Korea’s ballistic missile launch violated relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and called on Pyongyang to stop such provocative actions that threaten regional and international peace and security.
The three countries also reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining close coordination, the ministry said.
The diplomatic authorities of South Korea, the United States and Japan operate a channel for rapidly sharing information and assessments whenever North Korea launches ballistic missiles.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the South Korean military detected one ballistic missile launched from the Wonsan area of North Korea toward waters off the east coast at around 6 a.m. The missile flew more than 700 kilometers, while South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities tracked and shared information on the launch from its initial stages.
Japan’s Defense Ministry estimated that the missile reached an altitude of about 90 kilometers, traveled approximately 690 kilometers and landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The launch came six days after North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile on Aug. 6 and marked the country’s 11th ballistic missile launch of the year.