TOKYO/ BANGKOK – The leaders of Japan, the United States, South Korea and three other countries condemned Friday North Korea’s ballistic missile launch earlier in the day as they held an emergency meeting during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit in Bangkok, Kyodo news agency reported.
The three other countries are Canada, Australia and New Zealand. US Vice President Kamala Harris, who convened the meeting, called the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile a “brazen violation of multiple UN security violations.”
She said the countries, represented by their leaders, “strongly condemn” the launch, which “destabilizes security in the region and unnecessarily raises tensions.”
“We will continue to urge North Korea to commit to serious and sustained diplomacy,” Harris said.
Kishida lambasted the launch as “totally unacceptable” and called for united action by the international community for the complete denuclearization of North Korea.
The missile fell within Japan’s exclusive economic zone west of Hokkaido, Kishida said. The other participants were South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
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