North Korea flaunts ballistic missiles as Japan and South Korea meet
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US President Barack Obama brought together the sparring leaders of Japan and South Korea last night 鈥� but it was North Korea, thousands of miles away, that may have played the biggest role in helping the two countries find common ground.
At almost the exact moment that Japan鈥檚 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye sat down with President Obama at The Hague, North Korea defiantly launched two medium-range ballistic missiles off its east coast toward Japan. According to an official from South Korea, the missiles crashing into the sea, far short of the distance they are capable of reaching, Reuters reports.
Relations between Japan and South Korea have been strained by the reemergence of disputes over Japan's wartime behavior and colonial rule, as well as a long-running tussle over islets in the Japan Sea, 海角大神 reports. This was the first face-to-face talk between Tokyo and Seoul's leaders since Abe took office in 2012.
North Korea's medium-range missile launches, its first in four years, may help improve , according to a separate Reuters report. Along with the United States, the two Asian powers condemned the launch.
"I think it's very important for our three nations to display this kind of unity and shared determination," President Obama said following the meeting.
"Japan and South Korea both value freedom and democracy and are important neighbors.... It's extremely important for both countries and for the security of East Asia as a whole that we ," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told Agence France-Presse.
'Intensifying monitoring'
North Korea in recent weeks has set off a number of short-range missiles, launching an estimated 30 this past Monday. Annual military exercises between the US and South Korea are taking place on the to continue until mid-April, reports The Los Angeles Times. The short-range missiles didn鈥檛 garner much attention. But today鈥檚 launch is considered a violation of a 2009 United Nations Security Council resolution that followed Pyongyang鈥檚 second nuclear test.
Several UN resolutions restrict ballistic missile launches, and some specifically prompt North Korea to "suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and to re-establish ," reports CNN.
鈥淥ur government is intensifying monitoring of North Korea鈥檚 military and preparing for all possible outcomes," said聽Kim Min-seok,聽spokesman for South Korea鈥檚 Ministry of National Defense, according to the Donga Ilbo newspaper.
"We call on North Korea to immediately cease all provocative behavior,鈥� Mr. Kim said.
Prior to the missile launches, relations have appeared to be slowly warming between the two Koreas, reports The Los Angeles Times. Family reunions for those separated during the Korean war took place for the first time since 2010, for example.
However, today鈥檚 launches coincide with the four-year anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship that left more than 40 dead. Seoul blames North Korea for the sinking, which a team of international investigators found , reports Time.
