Japan's top government spokesman on Thursday said a North Korean missile launch earlier this week violated U.N. Security Council resolutions while condemning the test as "extremely regrettable."
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a press conference that Japan, which does not have formal diplomatic relations with North Korea, lodged a protest through its embassy in Beijing.
"While further analysis is necessary, based on the information available so far, we have judged the latest launch violates U.N. Security Council resolutions against using ballistic missile technology," he said.
North Korea on Tuesday test-fired a newly developed hypersonic missile, the Hwasong-8, according to state-run media. The second launch in a span of two weeks, it fanned concerns the reclusive country has made technological advances in developing the hard-to-intercept projectile.
Meanwhile, the top North Korea envoys of Japan, the United States and South Korea held phone talks on Thursday and shared concerns over the North's recent activities related to its nuclear weapon and missile development program.
Takehiro Funakoshi, head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and his counterparts agreed to continue trilateral cooperation to achieve North Korea's complete denuclearization, the ministry said.
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