Don't aggravate tensions, US warns N Korea
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Salvo...North Korea fired seven Scud missiles (r) into the Sea of Japan. (Reuters: Lee Jae-Won, file photo)
The United States has urged North Korea not to "aggravate tensions" as it slammed Pyongyang's latest missile test, apparently timed for the US Independence Day holiday, as "not helpful".
"North Korea should refrain from actions that aggravate tensions and focus on denuclearisation talks and the implementation of its commitments from the September 19, 2005 joint statement," said State Department spokesman Karl Duckworth.
"This type of North Korean behaviour is not helpful," he said after North Korea test-fired seven missiles off its east coast on Saturday according to South Korean officials.
The ballistic missiles - which the North is banned from firing under UN resolutions - were launched into the Sea of Japan.
It was the biggest salvo of ballistic weaponry since the North fired a long-range Taepodong-2 and six smaller missiles on US Independence Day in 2006.
Under the 2005 agreement, North Korea promised to give up its nuclear program in exchange for a US pledge not to attack or invade it and to work toward normalised relations.
The United States and other parties to the agreement - China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea - also offered to put together an energy package for North Korea.
But North Korea announced last April that it was walking out of the six-party talks and resuming operation of its nuclear facilities.
Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test in May.
"What North Korea needs to do is fulfil its international obligations and commitments," Mr Duckworth said, adding that North Korean missile launches "highlight the importance of fully implementing the provisions of the UN resolutions".
Provocative
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says North Korea's actions are clearly provocative.
Mr Smith has told Channel Nine that Australia is concerned the North Koreans are continuing to try to combine nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems.
"And if we don't get that under control through the [UN] security council, through the international community, then we do worry about the increase of tension, the lack of confidence and the dangers that other countries in the region will seek to respond," Mr Smith said.
Professor Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University said the launches were clearly timed to coincide with US Independence Day.
"This is a thinly veiled warning to the United States and the international community that it may launch long-range missiles next time," he said.
Chinese officials and their Russian counterparts said Saturday after a meeting in Moscow that both countries are "convinced" there is no alternative to the six-party talks.
China, which supported the UN resolution, has been criticised by the United States in the past for lacking enthusiasm for implementing UN sanctions against North Korea, its neighbour and ally.
In Israel, Trade and Industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Elizer blasted the US response to the latest missile launches.
"I am very concerned about the United States's reaction to North Korea's gross provocation," Mr Ben-Eliezer said in a speech delivered outside Tel Aviv.
- ABC/AFP
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