Hong Kong. January 27. INTERFAX - The United States condemns North Korea's latest missile launch, but remains committed to a diplomatic solution to the DPRK problem, Yonhap news agency writes, citing a State Department representative.
"The United States condemns the DPRK's ballistic missile launches," a department spokesman told the news agency.
"These tests, along with other ballistic missile launches this month, are a violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to the DPRK's neighbors and the international community," the State Department spokesman stressed.
He reaffirmed the US commitment to dialogue with North Korea. "We remain committed to a diplomatic approach to the DPRK and encourage them to engage in dialogue. Our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains unwavering," he said.
In turn, the Presidential National Security Council (NSC) of South Korea held an emergency meeting on the launches on Thursday.
The National Security Council called on Pyongyang to promptly respond to efforts to resolve problems through dialogue, while stressing that there should be no further deterioration of the situation on the Korean peninsula.
For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the launches extremely regrettable, since the DPRK fired ballistic missiles in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, in connection with which protests were filed.
Kishida added that so far he has not received any reports of damage to aircraft or ships.
A representative of the Japanese government told NHK that the shells fell outside the exclusive economic zone of Japan, so there is no direct impact on the national security of the country.
The latest launch of the DPRK was the sixth since the beginning of this year and the second this week.
Earlier, the South Korean military reported that Pyongyang launched two short-range ballistic missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan.
