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US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller speaks to reporters during the daily press briefing at the State Department in Washington, United States, April 1, 2024. (Gettyimages) |
The United States condemned North Korea's latest round of ballistic missile launches as a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions, a State Department spokesperson said Monday.
Matthew Miller, the spokesperson, also noted that Pyongyang's provocative activities will be on the agenda for talks that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will have during his trip to Shanghai and Beijing from Wednesday to Friday.
On Monday, Pyongyang fired multiple projectiles, presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles, into the East Sea, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The launches came after the North said it conducted a "super-large warhead" power test for a cruise missile and fired a new anti-aircraft missile Friday.
"We do condemn the DPRK's recent ballistic missile launch. This launch, like all of its other ballistic missile launches in recent years, is in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions," Miller told a press briefing. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"They pose a threat to regional and international peace and security, and this obviously will be something that will be on the agenda when the secretary travels to Beijing," he added.
In a press briefing previewing Blinken's upcoming visit to China, a senior State Department official said that the secretary will discuss North Korea's "threatening" rhetoric and "reckless" actions with senior Chinese officials.
North Korea-related issues have been on the agenda for high-level meetings between the US and China, as Washington has been calling on China to exert its influence to rein in Pyongyang's provocative acts and persuade it to return to dialogue. (Yonhap)
