US condemns North Korea's missile launch

The United States condemns North Korea's latest missile launch, a state department spokesperson has said, urging Pyongyang to engage in dialogue to peacefully denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.

Ned Price made the remarks after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea on Wednesday (Seoul time).

"This launch is a clear violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," the spokesperson said in a daily press briefing.

"It demonstrates the fact that North Korea's ballistic missile program, its nuclear weapons programme poses a threat to the DPRK'S neighbours. They pose a threat to the region. They pose a threat to peace and stability throughout the Indo Pacific," he added.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The latest missile launch marked the 14th known missile test by the impoverished country this year, with Pyongyang also firing its first intercontinental ballistic missile in more than four years in March.

"Our commitment to the defense of our treaty allies – the Republic of Korea and Japan – that commitment is ironclad," said Price, referring to South Korea by its official name.

Another state department spokesperson earlier said the US strongly condemns the North's missile launch.

"The United States condemns the DPRK'S ballistic missile launch," the spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency in an email.

"We stand with the international community to call on the DPRK to refrain from further provocations and engage in sustained and substantive dialogue," the department spokesperson added, asking not t o be identified.

US Indo-pacific Command earlier said the latest missile launch by the North did not pose an immediate threat to the US or its allies.

"While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel, territory, or that of our allies, we will continue to monitor the situation. The US commitment to the defence of the ROK and Japan, remains ironclad," the Indo-pacific command said in a released statement.

Japan's state minister of defence Makoto Oniki confirmed the launch and the missile's trajectory, saying it had landed "outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone".

North Korea's "repeated launches of ballistic missiles threaten peace and safety of our nation, the region and the international community," Oniki said.

UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, urged North Korea "to fully comply with its international obligations", and said the newest launch "only contributes to increasing regional and international tensions", according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

For five years under President Moon Jae-in, Seoul has pursued a policy of engagement with Pyongyang, brokering high-level summits between Kim and Trump while reducing joint US military drills the North sees as provocative.

But for President-elect Yoon, this "subservient" approach has been a manifest failure.

He said on the campaign trail he would like more US missile defences – and even tactical nuclear weapons – deployed in South Korea, and has vowed to ramp up joint military exercises, which infuriate Pyongyang.

US President Joe Biden is due to visit South Korea later this month to meet with Yoon.

Asked about a vote on a US draft resolution to increase international sanctions on Pyongyang, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-greenfield said her country's plan was "to move forward with that resolution during this month".