MOSCOW (Sputnik) — South Korea's special representative for North Korea policy Kim Hong-kyun agreed during phone conversations with his US and Japanese counterparts, Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi, to provide a harsh response to Pyongyang's recent missile launch, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.
"The top representatives shared their recognition that the latest North Korean ballistic missile launch which passed through Japan's airspace is a serious act of escalating tension… They agreed to take stern measures through close cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, including a powerful response at the United Nations Security Council level," the ministry said, as quoted by the Yonhap news agency.
After that Pyongyang's missile launch, South Korean media reported citing a source that South Korean President Moon Jae-in's administration does not rule out that recent short-range missile launches by Pyongyang demonstrate North Korea’s readiness for dialogue despite the ongoing US-South Korean drills, criticized by the DPRK.
In June, Moscow and Beijing initiated a road map for the settlement of the North Korean crisis, the so-called "double freeze" plan, which provides for the simultaneous cessation of North Korea's nuclear activity and the US-South Korean military exercises. The initiative has been rejected by the United States. North Korea has yet to issue a response to the proposal.
