TOKYO/BEIJING (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed Tuesday that North Korea's latest test-firing of ballistic missiles was a "clear challenge" to the international community.
A day after North Korea fired ballistic missiles that landed in waters as close as 300-350 kilometers off Japan's northwest coast, Abe said he had talks with Trump over the phone and also agreed that North Korea's "threat has entered a new phase."
Ahead of Abe's appearance in front of the press in the morning, North Korea's official media reported that leader Kim Jong Un had praised his country's army for "successfully" launching four ballistic missiles in a drill simulating a strike on U.S. military bases in Japan.
"The four ballistic rockets launched simultaneously are so accurate that they look like acrobatic flying corps in formation," Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.
Abe told reporters that Japan and the United States confirmed that North Korea's latest military action is a clear breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibiting it from developing and testing ballistic missile technology.
Abe said he was told by Trump that the United States is with Japan "100 percent."
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