hankyoreh

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol answers questions from reporters while departing for the presidential office in Seoul’s Yongsan area on Tuesday morning. (presidential office pool photo)

President Yoon Suk-yeol made remarks Tuesday calling North Korea’s intermediate-range ballistic missile launch a “clear violation of the UN’s universal principles and norms” and giving instructions for consultations toward strengthening US extended deterrence and increasing trilateral security cooperation with the US and Japan to respond to North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles.

Earlier that day, Yoon attended a National Security Council (NSC) standing committee meeting, where he called for cooperation with the US and the international community to pursue corresponding measures.

“North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations will only further strengthen security cooperation within and outside the region, including among South Korea, the US, and Japan,” he said.

Presided over by National Security Office (NSO) Director Kim Sung-han, the NSC standing committee meeting lasted for approximately 50 minutes. Arriving midway through the meeting, Yoon reportedly received a briefing on the situation and examined plans for a response.

After the meeting, the NSO released a statement calling North Korea’s intermediate-range missile launch a “clear violation of UN Security Council Resolutions.”

“We strongly condemn this action and view it as a grave provocation that threatens peace in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, as well as the rest of the international community,” it continued.

The NSO also said the meeting’s participants had “made it clear that North Korea’s continued provocations cannot be tolerated and will come at a cost.”

“Plans have been made to develop various measures to deter North Korea, including stronger sanctions against the North in conjunction with the international community, based on close cooperation with the US,” it added.

The statement further claimed that the South Korean military and South Korea-US joint assets were able to immediately detect and track all recent ballistic missile launches by the North, confirming the South’s thorough preparedness to neutralize any provocations by North Korea.

Along with Kim Sung-han, other standing committee meeting attendees reported by the presidential office that day included Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki, Foreign Minister Park Jin, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun, Vice Unification Minister Kim Ki-woong, NSC Secretary General Kim Tae-hyo, and NSO Second Deputy Director Lim Jong-deuk.

Earlier that day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported, “At 0723 hours, South Korea detected a single projectile believed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which was launched from the Mupyong-ri area of Chagang Province and passed through Japanese airspace as it traveled to the east.”

The missile was calculated as having flown approximately 4,500 km at an altitude of 970 km and a speed of Mach 17 (17 times the speed of sound). North Korea has conducted five missile launches in the past 10 days.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]