Vice President Kamala Harris has convened a meeting of world leaders on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Bangkok, Thailand, to discuss North Korea‘s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into Japanese waters.
Harris encouraged North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to reengage in “serious and sustained diplomacy” as part of remarks to the press Friday afternoon local time before reporters were ushered out of the room.
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Harris, according to the White House.
Harris’s comments echoed White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson’s condemnation of the test, in which she advised that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation.
“This launch is a brazen violation of multiple [United Nations] Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region,” Watson wrote in a statement. “This action demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people.”
“The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and Republic of Korea and Japanese allies,” she added.
Friday’s long-range missile, launched after an earlier short-range test, landed in the sea about 130 miles west of the Japanese island Hokkaido after traveling 621 miles at a height of 3,790 miles and a speed of Mach 22. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the missile could have reached the U.S.
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Harris’s meeting Friday was reminiscent of Biden’s emergency gathering of NATO and Group of Seven counterparts this week after Poland, a NATO member, reported a Russia-made missile killed two people in its Ukrainian border town of Przewodow.
