US condemns recent N. Korean ballistic missile launches: State Dept.

North Korea's firing of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile is seen in this file photo, July 13. Courtesy of North Korea's Korean Central News Agency

The United States condemns North Korea's two ballistic missile launches this week, a State Department spokesperson said Sunday, reiterating America's "ironclad" security commitment to South Korea and Japan.

Pyongyang fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Monday (Korea time) just hours after its launch of a short-range one, as Seoul and Washington agreed last week on stronger measures to counter nuclear threats from the recalcitrant regime.

"The United States condemns the DPRK's December 17 ballistic missile launches," the spokesperson said in a statement, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"These launches, like the other ballistic missile launches Pyongyang has conducted this year, are in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. They pose a threat to the DPRK's neighbors and undermine regional security," the official added.

The spokesperson also said that the U.S. remains committed to a diplomatic approach to the North, and called on the North to return to dialogue.

"Our commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad," the spokesperson added.

The North's latest saber-rattling followed the second session of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group, where the allies agreed to craft guidelines on the planning and operation of a nuclear strategy by the middle of next year and incorporate scenarios of nuclear operations in major allied drills.

The North fired a Hwasong-15 ICBM in February and a Hwasong-17 ICBM in March. It also test-fired a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 in April and conducted another test of the newest ICBM in July. (Yonhap)