Australian Foreign Minister Calls Out North Korea Missile Launches

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 25, 2022.(Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)

The Australian government had called out the North Korean regime for launching ballistic missiles over Japanese territory for the first time in five years.

Taking to social media, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia strongly condemned the “launch of a ballistic missile over Japanese territory”, which she said was “another demonstration of reckless and unacceptable behaviour that threatens the security of our neighbours and undermines the stability of the Indo-Pacific.”

Additionally, in an official media statement the minister said, “Pyongyang continues to show blatant disregard for multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibiting its dangerous ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.”

“We continue to be gravely concerned by North Korea’s apparent readiness to undertake a seventh nuclear weapons test.”

The foreign minister urged North Korea to change course, abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and resume dialogue with the United States and the Republic of Korea.

Senator Penny Wong reacts while questioning from Marise Payne during the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on March 24, 2021. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

Warning Comes As North Korea Fires 2 More Missiles into the Sea of Japan

The warning from Australia comes as South Korea and Japan confirmed that North Korea fired two more ballistic missiles, 22 minutes apart, into the Sea of Japan on Thursday. It came two days after the first launch on Tuesday.

In response, South Korea and the United States have said they will increase their surveillance posture.

However, the U.S. has diverted the USS Ronald Reagan, which recently took part in military exercises alongside Japan and South Korea in late September, to the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean military officials have called the return of the U.S. aircraft carrier strike group a demonstration of the U.S.’s  “firm will” to counter North Korea’s behaviour.

Thursday’s launch is the sixth round of weapons firing in the last two weeks, putting the region on edge and fuelling speculation that North Korea will carry out a nuclear weapons test in mid-October.

North Korea’s launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean forced Japanese citizens to seek shelter. Experts suspect it was a Hwasong-12 missile capable of reaching the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond. It was the first such weapons test in five years.

Caden Pearson contributed to this report.