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White House Responds to North Korean Missile Launch: 'All Options Are on the Table'

North Korea missile
Getty Images
August 29, 2017

The White House released a statement on Tuesday condemning North Korea's missile launch over Japanese airspace, saying "all options are on the table."

"The world has received North Korea's latest message loud and clear," the statement read.

 

 

The North Korean missile traveled nearly 1,700 miles, flying over the northern Japanese island Hokkaido and breaking apart 733 miles east of Hokkaido's Cape Erimo into the Pacific Ocean.

In the White House statement, President Donald Trump called out North Korea for not meeting the minimum standards of international behavior, saying it had signaled contempt to the United Nations.

"This regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior," he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting. Trump and Abe spoke after the missile launched about the direct threat North Korea poses to the United States, Japan, and the world. During the 40-minute phone conversation, Trump offered "strong commitment" to the security of Japan.

Trump left nothing off the table and said he is "committed to increasing pressure on North Korea" when condemning the rogue country and its missile programs.

"Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table," he said.