S. Korea, US, Japan share information, discuss response to NK missile launch

Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States, and Japan convened for a series of telephone consultations on Friday to exchange information and deliberate on a potential response following North Korea's recent series of ballistic missile launches, according to Seoul's foreign ministry. On Thursday, Pyongyang conducted a series of short-range ballistic missile firings towards the East Sea, during an ongoing military exercise between South Korea and the U.S., which Pyongyang has vehemently condemned as rehearsal drills for war.

Baek Yong-jin, the director general for Korean Peninsula policy at the ministry, engaged in discussions with David Wilezol, the deputy assistant secretary for Northeast Asia at the U.S. State Department, and Takashi Ariyoshi, the deputy director-general at Japan's foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau, earlier in the day, as reported by the ministry.

The three officials exchanged pertinent data and deliberated on potential future responses, the ministry reported in a press release. The foreign affairs authorities of the three nations maintain a direct line for the rapid sharing of information and assessments whenever North Korea undertakes ballistic missile launches, the ministry added. The latest missile firing remains the most recent development in this ongoing situation.