Senior diplomats of S. Korea, U.S., Japan hold phone talks over N.K. missile provocations

SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- Senior diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan strongly condemned North Korea's latest missile launches in their phone talks Monday, calling them a "serious threat" to the security of the Korean Peninsula and beyond, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

Last week, the North launched a barrage of ballistic missiles into the East Sea and the Yellow Sea, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, apparently in protest against a South Korea-U.S. joint air force drill called "Vigilant Storm."

In their consultations, First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and his American and Japanese counterparts -- Wendy Sherman and Takeo Mori, respectively -- pointed out the North's recent ballistic missile launches were in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, and posed a serious threat to the peace and stability of the peninsula and the international community as a whole, added the ministry.

odissy@yna.co.kr
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