Seoul - North Korea fired its seventh missile in three days
from its eastern coast Saturday, the South Korean Defence Ministry
said, as Pyongyang racked up Korean Peninsula tension.
The missiles, with a range of 400 to 500 kilometres, were fired
over the Sea of Japan, the ministry said.
'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, national news agency 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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