Seoul - North Korea fired four more missiles off its east
coast Saturday, according to South Korean media reports.
The missiles, apparently Scud rockets with a range of 500
kilometres, were fired over the Sea of Japan, the national news
agency Yonhap quoted government sources saying.
'It is a provocative act that clearly violates UN Security Council
resolutions 1695, 1718, and 1874 that bar North Korea's every
activity related to ballistic missiles,' South Korea's Foreign
Ministry said in a statement, Yonhap reported.
The ministry expressed its regret at North Korea's escalation of
tensions in North-East Asia, and called on it to comply with UN
resolutions.
Japan also condemned the rocket launches. Chief Cabinet Secretary
Takeo Kawamura said North Korea's action was 'a serious act of
provocation against the security of neighbouring countries, including
Japan, and is against the resolution of the UN Security Council.'
On Thursday, South Korea confirmed that North Korea had fired four
short-range missiles over the Sea of Japan, with an estimated reach
of 120 to 160 kilometres.
The missile tests on Thursday were thought to be part of routine
manoeuvres by the North Korean military but, because of tensions on
the Korean Peninsula over its nuclear programme, a new demonstration
of North Korea's military strength was not being ruled out, KBS
broadcaster quoted a Defence Ministry official in Seoul as saying.
The launches came as a nuclear test, earlier missile firings and
threats from Pyongyang as well as tightened UN sanctions against
North Korea have ratcheted up tensions with the country.
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