The US condemns North Korea's ballistic missile launches earlier in the day. A representative of the American State Department announced this on March 18.
“The current launches, like the launches of ballistic missiles in recent years, are a violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions. We remain committed to a diplomatic approach and encourage North Korea to engage in dialogue,” a State Department spokesman said. TASS.
He noted that the missile launches that North Korea regularly carries out are a threat to “regional security.” The United States will remain committed to the defense of Japan and South Korea, he said.
Earlier, on March 18, the DPRK test-launched two ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan. Both missiles fell outside Japan's economic zone, but were launched during Blinken's visit to South Korea. He attended the Freedom Shield military exercise organized by the country together with the United States.
On the same day, the Japanese government expressed outrage at the actions of the DPRK. This was stated by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a meeting of the budget committee of the upper house of parliament. He stressed that Japan strongly condemns today's missile launches and stressed that they are a violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
From March 4 to 14, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea and the United States conducted joint exercises Freedom Shield. Within their framework, the joint forces were focused on multi-domain operations using land, sea, air, cyber and space assets and on countering nuclear operations. Representatives of 12 member countries of the UN Command also took part in the exercises as observers.
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