JABAR EKSPRES – South Korea’s National Security Council (NSC) on Wednesday denounced North Korea’s rocket launch as a grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a serious provocation that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, the presidential office said.
The South’s presidential office convened an emergency committee meeting of the NSC chaired by National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong to discuss “North Korea’s launch of a long-range ballistic missile under the pretext of a satellite,” it said in a statement.
North Korea fired the rocket at around 6:30 a.m. local time, according to the South Korean military, continuing a launch that it said would take place between May 31 and June 11. North Korea later acknowledged failure in the launch, and promised to try again as soon as possible.
“Members of the NSC standing committee affirmed that the launch, regardless of its success or failure, was a grave violation of UNSC resolutions and a serious provocation threatening peace and safety on the Korean Peninsula and the international community, and condemned this,” according to the statement.
“In addition, the participants agreed to maintain a coordinated posture with allies and friendly countries while continuing to carefully monitor the possibility of North Korea’s follow-up launch,” the statement further said.
The NSC meeting was attended by Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and National Intelligence Agency Director Kim Kyou-hyun, and was preceded by a meeting to assess the security situation.
Earlier, the presidential office said President Yoon Suk Yeol was briefed shortly after the launch and kept updated directly.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectile fell into waters about 200 kilometers west of Eocheong Island in southwest South Korea after the launch experienced an “abnormal” flight.
The North’s space agency later admitted that the rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite crashed into the Yellow Sea due to engine failure and that it plans to conduct a follow-up launch in the near future, according to the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
