TOKYO, March 6. /TASS/. Foreign ministers of the United States, South Korea and Japan discussed North Korea’s most recent test launches of ballistic missiles, Japan’s NHK television channel reported on Monday.
The talks were held between US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se. No further details of the talks were provided.
According to earlier reports, North Korea test launched four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on early Monday.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resolutely condemned the missile launches adding that "Today’s missile launches are an obvious demonstration that this is a completely new level of threat."
The prime minister said that the launched missiles covered a distance of some 1,000 kilometers (over 620 miles) and that he intended to convene the country’s Security Council for an extraordinary session later in the day.
Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Yoshihide Suga said earlier in the day that North Korea test launched four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. Three of them landed in the exclusive economic zone of Japan, according to Suga.
The South Korean Defense Ministry’s initially reported that an unidentified projectile, which could be an intercontinental ballistic missile, was launched shortly after 7:30 a.m. local time from an area, located near North Korea’s Dongchang-ri long-range missile site.
On February 12, North Korea test-launched an intermediate-range missile into the Sea of Japan. The launch was denounced by Japan, South Korea and the United States, while the Russian government expressed its concern as well.