Malaysia urges the North Korea to desist from conducting further missile launches on top of halting its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programme.
In a statement, Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns the launch of a ballistic missile by North Korean and demands its leader to comply fully with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions in the interest of maintaining international peace and security.
“Such action by the North Korean will only further aggravate the escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula,” it said, adding that it is another setback to efforts by the international community to de-escalate tension and find lasting peace in the region. In this regard, Malaysia calls for the exercise of self-restraint by all parties and underscores the importance of creating conditions conducive for dialogue.
The launch came as the US and South Korea began their annual military drills. This provocative response from North Korea is yet another flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile over Japan, reigniting tensions following heated exchanges between Pyongyang and US President Donald Trump earlier this month. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the missile landed about 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) off Hokkaido in the Pacific Ocean, adding there were no reports of damage. The Japanese government revealed it did not try to shoot it down. “A missile passing over Japan is an unprecedented, grave and serious threat,” Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo. Japan has asked the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting following this latest incident.