South Korea, US, Japan nuclear envoys condemn North Korean spy satellite launch attempt

Debris from the failed North Korean spy satellite launch attempt is captured in this photo provided by Sotuh Korea's Joint Chief of Staff, May 28. Yonhap

Nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan on Tuesday strongly condemned North Korea's latest attempt to launch a military spy satellite, casting it as a blatant violation of U.N. resolutions and a serious threat to peace.

Lee Jun-il, director general for Korean Peninsula policy, discussed the North's botched space rocket launch in three-way phone talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Jung Pak and Yukiya Hamamoto, respectively, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a release.

"The three sides strongly condemned that North Korea, despite the repeated warnings from the international community, went ahead with the launch of the military reconnaissance satellite," the ministry said.

The envoys "stressed that it was a blatant violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from any such launches using ballistic missile technology, and that its provocations pose serious threats to peace and security in the region and beyond."

The three sides vowed to continue coordination trilaterally and with the international community to prepare for the North's potential additional provocation, saying such acts will "only strengthen the three-way security cooperation."

The phone talks came after the North said it launched a new rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite from a launching site on its northwest coast Monday. The launch failed due to the air blast of the rocket during the first-stage flight.

It was the first launch attempt by Pyongyang after it successfully put its first military spy satellite into orbit in November last year, following the two previous botched attempts in May and August, respectively. (Yonhap)