Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa held a phone conversation with his US and South Korean counterparts, Antony Blinken and Park Jin, respectively, on Thursday, during which the top diplomats condemned an attempted satellite launch by North Korea, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
North Korea’s state-run Central News Agency reported on Thursday that the country’s second attempt to launch a spy satellite had failed, adding that in October, a third attempt will be made.
“The three Ministers strongly condemned North Korea’s launch using ballistic missile technology for the purpose of satellite launch on August 24th, and they once again shared the view that ballistic missile launches by North Korea, which are in an unprecedented frequency and in new manners, constitute a grave and imminent threat to the regional security and pose a clear and serious challenge to the international community,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the foreign ministers reaffirmed that they will continue to work closely together on the issue of North Korea’s total denuclearization.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Japan decisively denounced the launch.
“Given the analysis of the information, we were unable to confirm that the satellite had reached Earth orbit following the launch. We assume that the launch ended in failure. Nevertheless, we strongly condemn the launch carried out using ballistic technology, which is a direct violation of the UN Security Council resolutions,” the prime minister said at a press conference.
On Wednesday, Kishida’s office said that North Korea had launched a “suspected ballistic missile.” The NHK broadcaster later reported that the missile passed over Japan and its fragments fell in the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea as well as in several other parts of the Pacific Ocean.
