Seoul:Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States, and Japan engaged in telephone consultations on Tuesday to exchange information and discuss potential responses to North Korea's recent ballistic missile launches, as reported by Seoul's foreign ministry.
According to Yonhap News Agency, North Korea launched several ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Monday. The following day, North Korea stated that it had test-fired a "tactical" ballistic missile to verify technological advancements in its weapon systems.
The discussions involved Baek Yong-jin, director general for Korean Peninsula policy at Seoul's foreign ministry, David Wilezol, deputy assistant secretary for Northeast Asia at the U.S. State Department, and Takashi Ariyoshi, a senior official at Japan's foreign ministry. These officials shared relevant information and deliberated on future actions.
The foreign ministries of the three countries have established a channel to promptly share information and assessments regarding North Korea's ballistic missile activities. This mechanism is utilized whenever North Korea conducts such launches.
Monday's missile launches by North Korea followed South Korea's announcement of its first successful test-firing of a domestically developed hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) on Thursday. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff indicated that North Korea's actions appeared to be a demonstration of force in response to South Korea's hypersonic missile test and to highlight advancements in its missile development as part of its five-year defense plan.