North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile Thursday, hours after threatening to launch “fiercer” responses to the U.S. increasing its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan, according to the Associated Press.
According to reports, the missile was fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea and landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
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“U.S. commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
Thursday’s launch is the first in eight days and the latest in a series of recent tests, the Associated Press reports.
“The event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies,” U.S. Into-Pacific Command said, noting “the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of (North Korea’s) unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs.”
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui warned the recent U.S.-South Korea-Japan summit accord would leave tensions “more unpredictable,” the Associated Press reports.
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In a joint statement from the summit, the country’s leaders condemned North Korea’s missile tests and vowed to work together in an effort to strengthen deterrence.
In a statement from the summit, President Joe Biden said Japan and North Korea are both critical allies, and for years the “countries have been engaged in a trilateral cooperation out of a shared concern … for the nuclear and missile threats North Korea poses … to our people. And North Korea continues provocation — provocative behavior. This partnership is even more important than it’s ever been.”
