May 31, 2023
North Korea launched a rocket carrying a military satellite toward the south from Tongchang in North Pyongan Province on May 31 at approximately 5:28 Taipei time. The launch failed and the rocket fell into the Yellow Sea. However, by using intercontinental ballistic missile technology (ICBM) in the operation, North Korea has violated related United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and again posed a serious threat to regional peace. The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea have strongly condemned North Korea’s provocative action.
Since 2022, North Korea has conducted frequent tests involving various types of ballistic and cruise missiles while also making preparations to resume nuclear test explosions, escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) again strongly condemns North Korea for willfully employing ICBM technology to launch a military satellite on a rocket in disregard of UNSC prohibitions, as well as for disrupting regional peace and stability.
Both members of the Indo-Pacific democratic community, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea alike face military threats from communist dictatorial regimes. Last August, China conducted large-scale live-fire exercises around Taiwan. Many like-minded nations, including the Republic of Korea, the United States, and Japan, expressed serious concern over China’s threatening military behavior. The Republic of Korea reiterated the importance of cross-strait peace and stability in its Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region, which was issued on December 28. Expressing an opposition to unilateral changes to the regional status quo by force, the report also stressed that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are important to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.
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.