SEOUL/WASHINGTON -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump agreed Wednesday to maintain maximum pressure and sanctions against North Korea,
strongly condemning the communist state's latest long-range missile launch staged earlier in the day.
The agreement came in a telephone conversation held only hours after Pyongyang fired what was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
"The two leaders strongly condemned North Korea for again launching a long-range ballistic missile despite the international community's repeated warnings and its continued sanctions and pressure under a series of UN Security Council resolutions," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a press briefing.
"Also, the two leaders agreed to continue their efforts to bring North Korea to the dialogue table by continuing to put sanctions and pressure on North Korea in close cooperation with the international community, while firmly and strongly dealing with North Korean provocations based on the strong joint defense posture of South Korea and the United States," he added.
The latest missile provocation marked the first of its kind since Sept. 15 when Pyongyang fired an intermediate range missile that flew over Japan.
Earlier, the White House said Moon and Trump had discussed the countries' response to the North Korean provocation.
"Both leaders underscored the grave threat that North Korea's latest provocation poses not only to the United States and the Republic of Korea but to the entire world," it said in a statement.
 | (Yonhap)The South Korean president noted the South Korean Army, Navy and Air Force staged a joint exercise immediately after the North Korean missile launch, according to Park.
"(The president) explained that his country demonstrated its capability to target the origin of North Korean provocations by striking a target with ground-to-ground, ship-to-ground and air-to-ground missiles," the spokesman said.
Moon underscored the need for the allies to share information regarding the North Korean missile launch, noting the latest missile launch appeared to have shown improvements in the communist state's missile technology.
"President Trump expressed agreement and suggested they hold additional discussions based on a detailed and accurate evaluation of today's missile provocation and close consultations between the foreign and defense authorities of South Korea and the United States," Park said.
The two leaders agreed to hold additional discussions in the near future on ways to deal with North Korean provocations after carefully examining North Korea's intentions and necessary countermeasures, he added.
Meanwhile, a Cheong Wa Dae official said the country had detected signs of a North Korean provocation well before the communist state staged its 11th missile provocation since the Moon Jae-in administration took office in May.
"President Moon had instructed (the government) on Nov. 27 to tell the people that signs of a North Korean missile launch were imminent," the official told reporters, while speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official said the president had also delegated full authority to stage a precision missile exercise to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apparently enabling the joint drill of the three armed forces that immediately followed the North's latest missile provocation.
Cheong Wa Dae earlier said the president was briefed on the North Korean missile launch at 3:19 a.m., two minutes after the reclusive regime staged its latest provocation. (Yonhap)
