Seoul: South Korea’s presidential Office of National Security on Sunday condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, calling for an immediate halt.
The office convened an emergency meeting led by Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Hyun-jong to analyse and assess the North’s latest missile launch, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written press briefing.
The office expressed concerns over the North’s increasingly frequent ballistic missile launches and urged Pyongyang to immediately halt provocations that clearly violate the UN Security Council resolutions, reports Yonhap news agency.
It also instructed relevant agencies to step up their readiness posture as President Lee Jae Myung is set to depart for India later in the day for a two-nation trip that also includes a visit to Vietnam.
Kang said the office also reported the North’s latest launch and response measures to the president.
The North fired the missiles from the Sinpho area in the North at around 6:10 a.m. Sunday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The JCS earlier said it is closely monitoring North Korea’s movements under a robust South Korea-US combined defence posture.
South Korean and US intelligence authorities have tracked movements related to the launch and have also shared relevant information with the Japanese side, it added.
North Korea last fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on April 8, in a rare pair of launches conducted in a single day.
The North’s latest provocation comes ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned visit to China in mid-May.
Meanwhile, the Japanese military is reportedly considering the possibility of the latest launch involving a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), reports Yonhap news agency.
Submarine-related facilities are known to be located in Sinpho, with the Hero Kim Kun Ok and the 8.24 Yongung submarines previously spotted at the eastern coastal city. The North test-fired an SLBM in waters off Sinpho in May 2022.
North Korea last fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on April 8, in a rare pair of launches conducted in a single day. The North also fired an unidentified projectile the previous day, but it disappeared shortly after it was fired in an apparent failure.
Following the series of launches over two days, North Korea’s state media said the North test-fired a tactical ballistic missile tipped with a cluster bomb warhead, claiming it can “reduce to ashes any target” within its range with the highest-density power.
State media also reported Pyongyang conducted tests of an electromagnetic weapon system and carbon fibre sham bombs scattering while verifying the combat reliability of a mobile short-range anti-aircraft missile system, raising views that the latest launch may be part of such weapons tests.
(IANS)
