South Korea calls on North Korea to cease missile launches

SEOUL: The authorities of the Republic of Korea are calling on North Korea to stop ballistic missile launches, the South Korean presidential...

SEOUL: The authorities of the Republic of Korea are calling on North Korea to stop ballistic missile launches, the South Korean presidential administration has stated.

At approximately 6:00 a.m. local time [21 p.m. August 11 GMT], North Korea launched a ballistic missile from the Wonsan area toward the Sea of Japan, which flew over 700 km. "North Korea's ballistic missile launches are a provocation that violates UN Security Council resolutions. We call for their immediate cessation," the administration said.

The National Security Office at the presidential office held an emergency meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They "assessed the impact of the launch on the country's security and issued necessary orders."

The Yonhap agency suggests that the launch may have been related to the US-South Korea military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield, which is set to begin on August 17.

The previous missile launch by Pyongyang took place on August 6; the missile launched at that time also fell outside Japan’s EEZ.

-News Feed