This picture taken from North Korean TV and released by South Korean news agency Yonhap on February 7, 2016, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center), looking at the locket launch of the satellite Kwangmyong 4. (AFP/North Korean TV via Yonhap)
Israel said Monday that it views North Korea’s repeated provocations with profound concern, joining the chorus of international criticism following Pyongyang’s launching of a long-range rocket on Sunday.
A statement released by the Foreign Ministry calls on the “international community to prevent any further violations, which clearly pose a threat to international peace and security.”
Widespread condemnation was swift, with the United States calling the launch “destabilizing and provocative,” while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed it as “absolutely intolerable.”
Widely regarded as a covert ballistic missile test, Pyongyang’s recent rocket launch and its fourth nuclear explosion on January 6 are being met by official moves towards the deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea.
Hours after North Korea’s long-range rocket launch on Sunday, South Korean and US military officials announced they would begin formal discussions on placing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) on the North’s doorstep.
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South Koreans watch a TV news program with file footage of North Korea’s rocket-launch plans, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, February 3, 2016. (AP/Ahn Young-joon)
Despite Pyongyang’s insistence on scientific space missions, its rockets are considered dual-use technology with both civil and military applications.
Multiple UN Security Council resolutions prohibit North Korea’s development of its ballistic missile program.
AP contributed to this report.
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