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ABC News
ABC News
National
political reporter Matthew Doran in Bangkok

Pacific allies hold urgent meeting after North Korea launches missile

Australia is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to consider North Korea's unprecedented number of ballistic missile tests.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the intercontinental missile fired on Friday landed in Japanese waters, just a day after North Korea fired a short-range missile.

Mr Albanese was part of an urgent meeting held in response on the sidelines of the APEC summit, with leaders from the US, Canada, New Zealand, Korea and Japan.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris led the talks, and described the launch as a "brazen violation" of international law.

"It destabilises security in the region, and unnecessarily raises tensions," she said.

"We strongly condemn these actions, and we again call North Korea to stop further unlawful, destabilising acts."

Mr Albanese said the unprecedented number of launches threatened the security not just of Japan, but of the entire region.

"This provocation violates multiple UN resolutions and must stop."

"This is precisely the reason why the UN Security Council was established so they could act on very short notice on matters like this."

"It's destabilising our region and in particular it's causing trauma for the people of the Japan and the people of the Republic of Korea."

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Albanese said the group were in lock-step.

“Australia supports the convening of an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to deal with this issue,” he said.

“We clearly condemn this action, and we'll consider what further action is required.

“It wasn't just one missile this morning, and there has been increasingly an escalation of North Korea's activity, and it needs to be called out.”

The missile launch has overshadowed leaders' meetings at the APEC summit, with the missile landing off the coast of Japan.

"We will continue to call for an end to the use of missiles," New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the group.

"We will also continue to call for an end to any proliferation of nuclear weapons."

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