South Korea holds talks with US, Japan over North Korea missile launch

Seoul: South Korea, the United States and Japan discussed North Korea’s latest missile launch and coordination efforts in three-way phone talks the previous day, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Baek Yong-jin, director general for the Korean Peninsula policy, spoke by phone with Dan Cintron, acting US deputy assistant secretary of state, and Otsuka Kengo, deputy director general of the Japanese foreign ministry’s Asia and Oceania bureau, the ministry said, Yonhap News Agency reported.

On Tuesday, South Korea’s military said the North fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, in yet another military muscle-flexing by Pyongyang ahead of its upcoming key party congress.

North Korean state media said Wednesday it has test-fired an upgraded large-caliber multiple rocket launcher system, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance.

Seoul confirmed the phone talks with Washington and Tokyo only after it was first made public in Japan earlier Wednesday, a move seen as rare considering that such trilateral consultations on North Korea’s provocations had mostly been released to the media promptly.

“South Korea, the US and Japan operate channels to swiftly share relevant information and assessments when North Korea launches ballistic missiles, and there was communication among the three sides regarding the latest launch,” the ministry said.

The ministry said it did not disclose details about the phone discussion as the government’s position on the latest missile launch was already made clear through the National Security Office and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“North Korea’s ballistic missile launches violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and there has been no change in our position that we respond firmly in coordination with the international community,” the ministry added.