Top S. Korean, U.S. diplomats voice concern over N. Korea's missile development

SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States expressed "strong concern" about recent advance in North Korea's missile program and stressed the significance of diplomatic efforts to resume talks with Pyongyang, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by phone after North Korea's test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday, the seventh show of force this year.

It marked Pyongyang's longest-range missile launch since the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in November 2017.

"The two sides expressed strong concern about the development of North Korea's missile capability and agreed on continued cooperation to bring the North back to the negotiating table at an early date," the ministry said in a statement.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to continuing a diplomatic push for resolution of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, it noted.

In his call with Japanese counterpart Hayashi Yoshimasa on Wednesday, Blinken condemned the North's ballistic missile launches as violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and committed to trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

ejkim@yna.co.kr
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