U.S. condemns North Korea missile launch - State Department spokesperson

FILE PHOTO: U.S. and North Korean national flags are seen at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States condemned North Korea's missile launch on Wednesday, saying it is in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and posed a threat to its neighbors and the international community, a State Department spokesperson said.

Both North Korea and South Korea test-fired ballistic missiles on Wednesday, the latest volley in an arms race https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-southkorea-analys-idUSKBN2BM0G8 that has seen both countries develop increasingly sophisticated weapons while efforts to get talks going on defusing tension prove fruitless.

North Korea fired a pair of ballistic missiles that landed in the sea off its east coast, according to officials in South Korea and Japan, just days after it tested a cruise missile https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-test-fires-long-range-cruise-missile-kcna-2021-09-12 that is believed to have nuclear capabilities.

"We remain committed to a diplomatic approach to the DPRK (Democratic Republic of Korea) and call on them to engage in dialogue. Our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad,” the spokesperson said.

North Korea has been steadily developing its weapons systems amid a standoff over talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals in return for U.S. sanctions relief. The negotiations, initiated between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018, have stalled since 2019.

President Joe Biden's administration has said it would explore diplomacy to achieve the goal of the complete denuclearisation of North Korea but would not seek a grand bargain with Kim.

South Korea tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-blazes-new-path-with-most-potent-conventional-missile-submarine-2021-09-08(SLBM), becoming the first country without nuclear weapons to develop such a system.

The State Department press officer did not respond to a question about South Korea's missile test.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Chizu Nomiyama)

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