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| Vehicles carry missiles during a military parade in Pyongyang. Sue-Lin Wong/Reuters |
International Military - On Thursday, January 27, 2022, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea for its sixth launch this month. South Korean military leaders and US Forces (USFK) discussed ways to improve their joint deterrence posture against North Korea.
US Defense Department Press Secretary John Kirby said the United States was as focused on addressing the threat posed by North Korea as on all other security issues. "Just because currently one issue is clearly attracting the attention of the world community, does not mean that we are not pursuing a focus on other threats and challenges for this country," Kirby said at a press conference quoted by Zonajakarta.com from Yonhap News.
John Kirby also explained that the US condemned the attack and called on the North Korean regime to stop provocations that violate UN Security Council resolutions. Under UN Security Council resolutions, North Korea is prohibited from developing or testing any ballistic missiles.
Since January 2021 when president Joe Biden took office, North Korea has conducted a dozen missile launches and ignored all US offers for dialogue.
On Thursday hours after the latest missile launch, South Korea, the United States and Japan, consulted on an in-person meeting of foreign ministers. The meeting is due to be held in February in Hawaii with North Korea likely to be high on the agenda.
Participants were South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his US and Japanese counterparts, Antony Blinken and Yoshimasa Hayashi. If successful, the meeting would be the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took office in October.
Top diplomats from the three countries last met in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The meeting was proposed because of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's unusually rapid missile test and Kim Jong Un's veiled threat to lift the moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.