The top nuclear envoys of Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have held emergency phone conversations over a ballistic missile launch by North Korea on Sunday morning.

A Foreign Ministry official said Sunday that Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Kim Hong-kyun conducted separate phone conversations with his United States and Japanese counterparts Joseph Yun and Kenji Kanasugi. They exchanged assessments over the latest North Korean missile provocation and discussed different responses.

The official added that the three chief nuclear envoys defined Sunday’s missile launch as a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, pledging to firmly deal with it.

He also said that the three countries will closely cooperate in taking measures against the North Korean provocation, including an additional action by the Security Council.

The quick phone conversations among the top nuclear envoys demonstrate the three countries’ solid determination to closely cooperate in countering missile and nuclear threats by the Pyongyang regime, despite the launch of a new government in South Korea.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday morning, four days after President Moon Jae-in took office.

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