The U.S. Government has strongly condemned North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental missile that has reached Japan’s territorial waters in the East Sea.
According to the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden is holding «close consultations» with his allies in Seoul and Tokyo, with whom he has decided to strengthen security cooperation in the wake of Pyongyang’s launches.
«This launch is a blatant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions, unnecessarily raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region,» the United States said, stressing that such action demonstrates that North Korea «continues to prioritize its illegal weapons of mass destruction programs» over the welfare of the people.
«We urge all countries to condemn these violations and to call on North Korea to come to the table for serious negotiations. The door has not been closed to diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilizing actions and opt for diplomatic engagement,» the White House asserted in its statement.
In this regard, Washington has announced that it will take «the necessary measures» to ensure «the security of the American homeland and the Republic of Korea», as well as that of its Japanese allies.
The U.S. missive comes just hours after North Korea launched a missile into the Sea of Japan for the second day in a row.
Japanese authorities have detailed that the projectile has probably fallen «within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone», which has led the Japanese Coast Guard to alert fishing boats.
However, the Japanese Defense Minister, Yasukazu Hamada, detailed that the missile launched by Pyongyang had flown for 69 minutes and that it could have «a range of more than 5,000 kilometers, which would include continental United States territory», according to statements reported by NHK.
