US condemns NKorea missile launches, says they are threat to region, beyond

WASHINGTON (AA) – The US sharply denounced North Korea on Wednesday after Pyongyang carried out a series of ballistic missile tests overnight, calling them a threat to security in the region and beyond.

State Department spokesman Ned Price emphasized that the tests are in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions, which prohibit the North from conducting such launches, and said they “are a threat to the region, a threat to its peace and stability.”

“We know that the DPRK’s ongoing provocations pose a threat to the region, pose a threat to all of us, and it’s incumbent on the international community to join us in condemning the DPRK’s flagrant and repeated violations of these multiple UN Security Council resolutions and to uphold their obligations,” he told reporters.

North Korea on Wednesday carried out three ballistic missile tests in the direction of the Sea of Japan, including a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the South Korean military announced.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launches from the Sunan area near the capital Pyongyang in the morning, Yonhap News Agency reported. The launches included an intercontinental ballistic missile, and two short-range ballistic missiles, according to Seoul.

With the latest launches, North Korea has fired 17 missiles since the beginning of this year, all of which run afoul of existing UN Security Council resolutions.

The missile tests came just a day after US President Joe Biden concluded a tour of Asia which included visits to South Korea and Japan.