A rare phone readout revealed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offering support Tuesday to his Japanese and South Korean counterparts after a North Korean missile launch.
The phone readout was provided by the Department of State and posted to Twitter by Politico foreign affairs correspondent Nahal Toosi. It showed Tillerson reaffirming the U.S.'s ties to its East Asian allies.
The call was prompted by North Korea's launch of a missile on Tuesday morning (Pyongyang time) which flew over Japan. Japanese citizens were advised by the government to take protective cover during the launch.
On separate calls, Tillerson spoke with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Yung-wha.
"They agreed the launch was an escalation of North Korean provocations and showcased the dangerous threat posed by North Korea to the United States, Japan, the ROK, and countries around the world," the readout noted.
Tillerson reaffirmed U.S. support for its allies.
"Secretary Tillerson reaffirmed with Ministers Kono and Kang the strength of our alliances with Japan and the ROK [Republic of Korea], as well as the ironclad commitments of the United States to their defense," the readout read.
"Secretary Tillerson agreed with the two ministers to continue close coordination on efforts to increase pressure on North Korea to show the regime that its repeated violations of UN Security Council resolutions will only result in condemnation and isolation from the international community," it read.
North Korea had previously been sanctioned by the U.N. for escalation of its nuclear and missile programs. On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley condemned the earlier missile launch, saying that "no country should have missiles flying over them like those 130 million people in Japan."