North Korea Missile Barrage Triggers Urgent US, South Korea & Japan Consultations

Seoul [South Korea], August 21: Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated after North Korea launched a barrage of around 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea from the vicinity of Pyongyang, South Korean media reported.

The missiles that were launched a day ago prompted urgent trilateral consultations among senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan on Friday.

Missile launch triggers response

As per a report by South Korea's official news agency Yonhap, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected roughly a dozen short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Pyongyang area at around 5 pm (local time Thursday), adding that further analysis is under way in cooperation with the United States.

According to a statement by Japan's Foreign Ministry, Ariyoshi Takashi, Deputy Director-General, Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, held telephone discussions with Baek Yong-jin, Director-General for the Korean Peninsula Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, and David Wilezol, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of State of the US.

"They reaffirmed that ballistic missile launches by North Korea violate the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and called on North Korea to cease such provocations that threaten the peace and security of the region and the international community," the joint statement read.

Japan's Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who is visiting India, told reporters that Tokyo has lodged a strong protest with Pyongyang, Kyodo News reported.

"The missiles are believed to have fallen outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, and we are working closely with the United States and South Korea to analyse the details," Koizumi said as per Kyodo.

The three allies - US, South Korea and Japan shared intelligence and coordinated response measures through an established rapid-information channel designed to address North Korean missile provocations.

Drills and diplomatic tensions

The missile salvo came amidst recent direction by US President Donald Trump to scale back the ongoing joint South Korea-US "Ulchi Freedom Shield" military exercise, a move intended as a conciliatory gesture to foster conditions for resuming diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

However, Pyongyang swiftly dismissed the reduction, asserting through official statements that modifying the scale of the drills does not alter what it views as the fundamental "aggressive nature" and "hostile policy" of the US-South Korea alliance.

In Seoul, political leaders expressed support for diplomatic avenues.

Kim Min-seok, leader of South Korea's ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), stated on Friday that his party fully supports President Lee Jae Myung's efforts to facilitate dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, noting that the political and security environment across the Korean Peninsula is undergoing rapid shift.

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US seeks renewed dialogue

Trump has expressed his willingness to resume dialogue with Kim, whom he met three times during his first term in 2018 and 2019, Yonhap reported.

In a White House press availability Wednesday (US local time), Trump said he would meet Kim later this year, claiming that the recalcitrant state possesses "57 very powerful" nuclear weapons, a specific figure he has cited for the first time regarding the North's nuclear stockpile as per the South Korean media outlet.

Seoul and Washington had on Wednesday announced that they will cut short the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise by half, ending today the annual drills scheduled to run till August 27.

In a statement carried by Pyongyang's official media as reported by Japanese media Kyodo, it was stated that Kim Yo Jong, the influential younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement carried by Pyongyang's official media that downsizing the exercise does not change its hostile nature.

Thursday's missile launch marks the third this month by North Korea. Pyongyang had on August 12 fired a short-range ballistic missile eastward and earlier on August 6, it had launched another short-range ballistic missile.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)