The White House condemned North Korea’s latest attempt to launch a ballistic missile Tuesday, and urged its leaders to comply with international law or risk further international isolation.
“The U.S. and the rest of the international community calls on North Korea to refrain from actions, including this failed missile test, that further raise tensions in the region, and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments,” presidential press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday.
United Nations Security Council resolutions explicitly prohibit North Korea’s use of ballistic-missile technology, Earnest said, and Monday afternoon’s attempt by Pyongyang to launch a missile is still a violation even though it failed and didn’t pose a threat to South Korea.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, a combined organization of the U.S. and Canada to assess aerospace activity and issue warnings, conducted its assessment of the failed missile launch and concluded that it did not pose a threat to South Korea, he said.
Still, he said, the tests are “destabilizing and it’s something they should stop doing.”
“We continue to have confidence in the steps [U.S.] military has taken to protect the American people and our allies, but we certainly would like to see North Korea begin to take steps that are consistent with pursuit of compliance with its international obligations,” he continued.
Because Pyongyang continues this type of ballistic activity, the North Korean government has been “increasingly isolated and they are under increasing pressure economically,” he said.
“We are obviously hopeful that that pressure will lead to some different” decision-making, he concluded.
