UN Security Council to discuss North Korea missile launches

The UN Security Council will meet tomorrow morning in New York to consider a response to the latest missile launches by North Korea, diplomats said today.

The discussion, requested by council members Japan and the United States, is slated to begin at 11:30 am local time (1530 GMT).

Today, Pyongyang test-fired three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, a new show of force as world leaders meet at the G20 summit in China.

A senior US administration official at the G20 in Hangzhou condemned the launches as a threat to its allies and to civilian air travel, and vowed diplomatic action against Pyongyang.

The missiles were fired into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) from the North's Hwangju county at around 0300 GMT, a spokesman for Seoul's defense ministry said.

North Korea has conducted a series of missile tests this year in defiance of UN sanctions imposed after its fourth nuclear test in January.

Last month, North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from the northeastern port of Sinpo.

That missile flew 500 kilometres wards Japan, far exceeding the range of the North's previous sub-launched missiles.

Three days later the security council strongly condemned North Korea for test-firing ballistic missiles and agreed to take "significant measures," without elaborating.

The 15-member council issued the toughly-worded condemnation in a unanimous statement drafted by the United States and backed by China, Pyongyang's main ally.

North Korea is barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology.

In March the Council adopted the toughest sanctions ever imposed on North Korea in response to the country's military programs.