US condemns recent N. Korean ballistic missile launches: State Dept.
North Korea's firing of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile is seen in this file photo, July 13. Courtesy of North Korea's Korean Central News Agency
The United States condemns North Korea's two ballistic missile launches this week, a State Department spokesperson said Sunday, reiterating America's "ironclad" security commitment to South Korea and Japan.
Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Monday (Korea time) just hours after its launch of a short-range one, as Seoul and Washington agreed last week on stronger measures to counter nuclear threats from the recalcitrant regime.
"The United States condemns the DPRK's December 17 ballistic missile launches," the spokesperson said in a statement, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"These launches, like the other ballistic missile launches Pyongyang has conducted this year, are in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. They pose a threat to the DPRK's neighbors and undermine regional security," the official added.
The spokesperson also said that the U.S. remains committed to a diplomatic approach to the North, and called on the North to return to dialogue.
"Our commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad," the spokesperson added.
The North's latest saber-rattling followed the second session of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group, where the allies agreed to craft guidelines on the planning and operation of a nuclear strategy by the middle of next year and incorporate scenarios of nuclear operations in major allied drills.
The North fired a Hwasong-15 ICBM in February and a Hwasong-17 ICBM in March. It also test-fired a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 in April and conducted another test of the newest ICBM in July. (Yonhap)
相关文章
South Korea beefs up drills amid escalating NK provocations
A Spike missile is launched during the South Korean Marine Corps' full-scale live-fire drills on the2024-09-22Defector case may lead to virus aid to North Korea
This photo shows fields in North Korea's Kaepung County on the western front-line border with South2024-09-22Kanye West suggests slavery was a 'choice' in heated TMZ segment
Kanye West is back in the public eye, and he doesn't seem eager to leave any time soon.Over the past2024-09-225 most savage quotes from damning report on the 'digital gangsters' at Facebook
The results of an 18-month investigation into Facebook are out and they're not pretty. The UK Parlia2024-09-22Google Search tries new tactics for limiting explicit deepfakes
The explosion of nonconsensual deepfake imagery online in the past year, particularly of female cele2024-09-22Buses and trains disinfected as North Korea ramps up virus measures
A passenger wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus is disinfected her hand b2024-09-22
最新评论