South Korea, Japan and the US react to North Korea’s launch

In a statement, President Moon Jae-in said the latest launch violated North Korea’s commitment to stop ICBM launches, as well as violating United Nations sanctions. According to the South Korean leader, the launch posed a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula, the region and the international community.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) issued a statement condemning the launch. South Korea’s military also conducted multiple ballistic and tactical missile tests shortly after what South Korea said was North Korea’s ICBM launch. According to the South Korean military, the missiles were fired from the ground, at sea and in the air.

Meanwhile, according to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio strongly criticized North Korea’s latest launch and called it an “unacceptable” action by Pyongyang. North Korea’s launch took place on the day Prime Minister Kishida left Japan for Brussels (Belgium) to attend the G7 Summit.

Speaking to the press, Prime Minister Kishida affirmed the coordination of G7 member countries to deal with North Korea’s repeated launches, which are in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. UN Security Council).

On the same day, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that North Korea’s launch violated many UN Security Council resolutions, potentially destabilizing the security situation in the region.

Earlier, on the afternoon of March 24, North Korea launched an object that flew towards the East Sea of ​​the Korean Peninsula. The launch comes just four days after North Korea launched four rounds of what is believed to be a multiple rocket launcher in the direction of the Yellow Sea from an undisclosed location at Sukchon, in South Pyongan province north of the capital Pyongyang. Pyongyang.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said the latest flying object that North Korea launched could be an ICBM. According to estimates by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, this flying object flew more than 1,100 km in about 71 minutes with a maximum altitude of more than 6,000 km. This is possibly the longest and highest range missile North Korea has ever launched. This missile fell into the sea at about 3:44 pm (local time) 150 km west of the Oshima peninsula in Japan’s Hokkaido province.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that so far, there have been no reports of damage caused by the launch.

On the same day, China stressed the importance of dialogue to seek peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin called on all relevant parties to focus on the peaceful and stable situation on the Korean Peninsula, as well as coordinate to promote problem solving by political means.