December 18, 2022
North Korea launched two medium-range ballistic missiles from the Tongchang County area of North Pyongan Province toward the Sea of Japan between 10:13 and 11:05 Taipei time on December 18, posing a serious threat to regional peace and stability. The governments of the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea have strongly condemned North Korea for its provocative actions.
Since January, North Korea has conducted over 30 missile tests, an unprecedented high in a one-year span. Such tests have included various types of intercontinental, medium-range, and short-range ballistic missiles. It is also making preparations to resume nuclear test explosions, further escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) strongly condemns North Korea for willfully test-firing missiles in disregard of United Nations Security Council prohibitions and for jeopardizing regional peace and stability. The Korean Mission in Taipei has on multiple occasions expressed affirmation and gratitude for the Taiwan government’s grave concern over the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
As important members of the Indo-Pacific community, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea both face military threats from dictatorial regimes. In August, China conducted large-scale live-fire exercises around Taiwan, undermining peace across the Taiwan Strait and posing a threat to international air and sea navigation freedoms. Many like-minded nations, including the Republic of Korea, the United States, Japan, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, expressed serious concern over China’s threatening military behavior and reiterated the importance of cross-strait peace and stability to regional security and prosperity. In addition, when attending the 17th East Asia Summit on November 13 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the US, Japanese, and ROK leaders again jointly reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community.
Taiwan will continue to closely follow North Korea’s military threats and provocative actions. It will work with like-minded countries to promote peace, prosperity, and denuclearization across the Korean Peninsula; deter authoritarian expansion and aggression; uphold the rules-based international order; and safeguard a free, open, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.