Anchor: The U.S and Japan have condemned North Korea’s latest missile launch and vowed to respond to the provocation.
Our Laurence Taylor wraps up their responses.
 
Report: North Korea’s long-range ballistic missile launch early Wednesday morning has been strongly condemned by the U.S. and Japan.
 
Following the missile launch, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a White House meeting with Republican congressional leaders including U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, that the U.S. will "take care of" the North Korean issue.
 
[Sound bite: U.S. President Donald Trump]
"I will only tell you that we will take care of it. We have General Mattis in the room, and we have had a long discussion on it. It is a situation that we will handle."

[Sound bite: U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis]
"It went higher, frankly, than any previous shot they've taken. It's a research and development effort on their part to continue building ballistic missiles that can threaten everywhere in the world, basically. "

Trump later discussed joint response measures to the launch during phone talks with President Moon Jae-in.  
 
The two leaders condemned North Korea and pledged to induce the North to come to the dialogue table by continuing sanctions and pressure in cooperation with international powers.
 
Trump also held phone talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday, during which they agreed to cement their bilateral alliance to curb North Korea's threat and step up pressure against the communist state.
 
Earlier on Wednesday, Abe said Japan will not back down in the face of provocations but maximize pressure on North Korea. 
 
[Sound bite: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (Japanese)] 
“We will not tolerate North Korea's reckless action that has trampled on the strong will of the international society to resolve the problem. We have lodged a strong protest against North Korea.” 
 
Meanwhile, the launch is expected to further strain relations between China and the North after a Chinese special envoy’s recent unproductive meeting with North Korean officials in Pyongyang.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday to discuss North Korea's latest provocation following requests from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. 
Laurence Taylor, KBS World Radio News.