Nuclear envoys of S. Korea, U.S., Japan hold phone talks after N.K. missile launches

Nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan discussed coordination efforts Thursday after North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, the foreign ministry said. Lee Jun-il, director general for Korean Peninsula policy, shared the assessment on the latest missile launches with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Jung Pak and Yukiya Hamamoto, respectively, and also explained the North's sending of balloons and its attempts to jam the South's GPS signals. "The three sides condemned the North's missile launches as a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions and said they pose a serious threat to peace and security, agreeing to continue close coordination over the issue," the ministry said in a release. Regarding the sending of balloons and GPS jamming attempt, Lee told his counterparts that South Korea will make sure it prepares for and firmly deals with any provocations by the North that are aimed at changing the status quo, the ministry said. Earlier in the day, the No rth fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, the South Korean military said, a day after it sent hundreds of large balloons carrying trash and manure into the South. The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff also said it detected attempts by Pyongyang to jam GPS signals near the inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea, a second such attempt this week. Source: Yonhap News Agency