S Korea, US, Japan Agree on Harsh Response to Pyongyang's Missile Launch - Seoul

A South Korean official said that Seoul, the United States and Japan have agreed on a powerful response at the UN Security Council to Tuesday's ballistic missile launch by North Korea they called a "serious act of escalating tension."

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — South Korea's special representative for North Korea policy Kim Hong-kyun agreed during phone conversations with his US and Japanese counterparts, Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi, to provide a harsh response to Pyongyang's recent missile launch, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

"The top representatives shared their recognition that the latest North Korean ballistic missile launch which passed through Japan's airspace is a serious act of escalating tension… They agreed to take stern measures through close cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, including a powerful response at the United Nations Security Council level," the ministry said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.

Earlier in the day, North Korea launched a missile which flew over Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) east of Hokkaido, a Japanese island. The launch was conducted at 5.57 a.m. local time (21:27 GMT on Monday). The Japanese military said the projectile was likely a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile. The launch was the second in the last few days as on Saturday, North Korea test fired short-rage ballistic missiles off the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula.

After that Pyongyang's missile launch, South Korean media reported citing a source that South Korean President Moon Jae-in's administration does not rule out that recent short-range missile launches by Pyongyang demonstrate North Korea’s readiness for dialogue despite the ongoing US-South Korean drills, criticized by the DPRK.

North Korea has carried out a number of missile launches and nuclear tests in recent months, all of which are considered to be in violation with the UN Security Council resolutions. South Korean President Moon Jae-in stated that in response, Seoul would install additional THAAD launchers at a US military base in South Korea.

In June, Moscow and Beijing initiated a road map for the settlement of the North Korean crisis, the so-called "double freeze" plan, which provides for the simultaneous cessation of North Korea's nuclear activity and the US-South Korean military exercises. The initiative has been rejected by the United States. North Korea has yet to issue a response to the proposal.