US requests UN meeting on North Korea missile launch

UNITED NATIONS – The United States called for a meeting Friday of the U.N. Security Council on North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test, carried out in defiance of U.N. resolutions banning such launches.

The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said it asked for closed consultations on the ballistic missile launch after a council meeting Friday afternoon on Burundi.

The latest test follows a recent order by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for tests of a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles capable of carrying atomic warheads.

His order, carried Tuesday by the official Korean Central News Agency, came as North Korea said it had made a breakthrough in its pursuit of a long-range missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland. It also follows North Korea’s condemnation of the ongoing annual South Korean-U.S. military drills, the largest ever, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for an invasion.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric called the situation on the Korean peninsula, including the latest ballistic missile launches, “deeply troubling.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon again urges North Korea “to comply with its international obligations, including relevant Security Council resolutions, and halt these inflammatory and escalatory actions,” Dujarric said.

Two weeks ago, the Security Council unanimously approved the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades, reflecting growing anger at Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test in January and rocket launch in February in defiance of a ban on all nuclear-related activity.