Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Sunday that the country will cooperate closely with countries such as the United States and South Korea over North Korea’s provocations.

“We’ll keep a close watch on North Korea’s provocative acts,” Kishida told reporters during a trip to Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan earlier on Sunday.

Japanese State Defense Minister Toshiro Ino told reporters that North Korea is escalating provocations.

Pyongyang’s missile launches “threaten peace and stability in Japan and the international community and are utterly unacceptable,” he said.

Japan filed a protest against North Korea via embassies in Beijing.

Kishida said that he instructed officials to collect information and ensure safety.

Ino said that no damage to aircraft or ships has been reported.

Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, had separate calls with Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for North Korea, and Kim Gunn, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs.

They shared the view that North Korea’s missile launches pose a serious challenge to the international community and agreed to work closely together at the U.N.

Security Council and other platforms to achieve the complete denuclearize of North Korea.

JIJI Press