South Korea's top diplomat on Saturday called for a swift adoption of a strong U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution to punish North Korea for its latest missile provocation in an emergency meeting with her staff.
The North launched what it claimed to be a second and improved intercontinental ballistic missile late Friday night, which flew more than 1,000 kilometers at the maximum altitude of around 3,700 km before landing in the waters between Korea and Japan.
"We should talk with friendly countries to convene an emergency UNSC meeting and swiftly induce a strong sanctions resolution (against the North)," Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told his staff.
Kang also urged her staff to closely review ways that lead allies to take additional countermeasures against the latest provocation.
She said that the North's latest missile launch doesn't fit with its long-held patterns in terms of its timing and location, and worried that it is demonstrating a "significant" improvement in terms of missile technology.
She still cautioned against action that could undermine President Moon Jae-in's recently unveiled North Korea approach that appears to be leaning toward dialogue.
In his speech in Berlin early this month, President Moon emphasized the importance of dialogue to address the nuclear issue. He added that his government will work to establish a permanent peace regime on the peninsula.
In a follow-up move in mid-July, South Korea offered to hold inter-Korean military talks to ease tensions along the tense border and separate talks to resume reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. There has been no response from the North to the overtures.
Citing her earlier telephone conversations with U.S. and Japanese counterparts to discuss countermeasures against the North's latest provocation, Kang said that the three promised to closely coordinate in their response.
Kang added that she will also discuss this issue with other foreign ministers expected to attend ASEAN meetings to be held in the Philippines early next month, expecting that they will send "strong" warnings to the North. (Yonhap)