Biden speaks with Japan PM Kishida after North Korea missile test

President Joe Biden on Tuesday spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss their next steps after North Korea conducted its longest ever test launch by firing a nuclear-capable ballistic missile over Japan.

The White House in a statement said the leaders condemned North Korea's missile test in the “strongest terms, recognising the launch as a danger to the Japanese people, destabilizing to the region, and a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

The White House said the leaders agreed to coordinate an immediate and longer-term response together, as well as with South Korea, and with the international community. They also vowed to work to limit North Korea's “ability to support its unlawful ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs."

North Korea has test-fired about 40 missiles over about 20 different launch events this year as its leader, Kim Jong Un, refuses to return to nuclear diplomacy with the United States, but Tuesday's test was the most provocative yet.

Tuesday's launch is the fifth round of weapons tests by North Korea in the past 10 days. The testing spree is an apparent response to two sets of military drills - one between Washington and Seoul and the other involving Washington, Seoul and Tokyo - off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast last week.

Earlier, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with his counterparts Japanese Secretary General Akiba Takeo and South Korea National Security Office Director Kim Sung-han to discuss the North Korean provocation.