Severe protests from South Korea and Japan following the launch this week of a ballistic missile in North Korea. The new launch was carried out early in the morning on the east coast of the country towards the Pacific Ocean, the South Korean military general announced in Seoul.
The National Security Council convened in Seoul for an emergency hearing, and expressed deep regret over the launch. A few days ago, Pyongyang announced the launch of a hyper-Sony missile. The Japanese Ministry of Defense said the missile launched today moved in a typical ballistic missile trajectory and made a distance of 700 km.
The second launch this week was carried out immediately after the UN issued a statement from the governments of the US, France, Ireland and the UK condemning the launches of North Korea.
Security Council resolutions, the Reuters news agency reports, prohibit North Korea from launching ballistic missiles and conducting nuclear tests and have already been subject to UN sanctions, although Russia and China are exerting heavy pressure to ease and lift sanctions against Pyongyang.