National Security Council 'strongly' denounces NK missile launch
2024-05-29 02:27:59
National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, 2nd from left, presides over a National Security Council meeting at the presidential office in Seoul in this photo provided by the office, April 13. Yonhap
The presidential National Security Council (NSC) "strongly" denounced North Korea's launch of an intermediate- or longer-range ballistic missile Thursday.
The NSC held a meeting led by National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong to discuss what South Korea's military described as an intermediate- or longer-range ballistic missile launch earlier in the day.
President Yoon Suk Yeol was immediately briefed on the launch, his office said.
"The NSC standing members noted that North Korea's missile launch constitutes a grave violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a serious provocation heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the region," the presidential office said in a press release.
The NSC "strongly denounced the launch of a ballistic missile of at least intermediate range following the long-range ballistic missile launches in February and March," it said.
The council deplored that the Kim Jong-un regime has been continuing its reckless nuclear threats and missile provocations while paying no regard to the North Korean people's human rights situation and livelihoods.
"The NSC standing members emphasized that North Korea's recent successive provocations and threatening language once again show the importance of a strong South Korea-U.S. alliance and the unwavering maintenance of trust," the presidential office said.
The council vowed to continue to thoroughly implement South Korea-U.S. military exercises and maintain a firm readiness posture, while further bolstering intelligence-sharing between the allies, and trilaterally with Japan, based on the recent normalization of the GSOMIA military intel-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo, it said.
"The participants agreed to monitor more closely North Korea's nuclear and missile facilities and actively look for various response measures against the possibility of additional provocations based on cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan," it added.
The officials in attendance included Foreign Minister Park Jin, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun. (Yonhap)
