The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States engaged over the phone on Wednesday, exchanging views regarding North Korea's latest back-to-back ballistic missile tests.

According to the foreign ministry, foreign minister Park Jin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken strongly condemned the tests as a "serious provocation," denouncing them as a threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and around the world.

They noted that such a provocation only serves to prompt the allies to strengthen their combined defense posture and further isolates Pyongyang from the international community.

The two ministers also criticized the North's expenditure of key resources on nuclear and missile development at a time when the North Korean people are suffering from the presumed spread of the COVID-19 virus in the country.

Reaffirming the continuous reinforcement of the allies' joint deterrence, Park and Blinken agreed to work together to push the United Nations Security Council to adopt new sanctions against the regime.