South Korea’s acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday (March 6) presided at a National Security Council (NSC) meeting and condemned the North’s ballistic missiles launches.
North Korea fired four ballistic missiles early on Monday, three of which Japan said landed in its exclusive economic zone, in an apparent retaliation over recent U.S.-South Korean military drills.
“I strongly condemn that North Korea disregarded our and the international community’s consistent warnings and fired ballistic missiles again. It is direct challenge to the globe and serious provocation,” said Hwang in opening remarks.
Hwang also said that Seoul should swiftly complete the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system after North Korea launched four missiles earlier in the day.
“We should quickly finish the deployment of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) deployment and acquire a defense system against North Korea’s nuclear bombs and missiles,” he added.
South Korea has said it and the United States aim to make the system, which the two countries decided last year to deploy in response to the North Korean missile threat, operational by the end of the year.
(REUTERS)
