The UN Security Council "strongly condemned" North Korea Friday for firing at least one ballistic missile and called on the country to comply with UN sanctions prohibiting ballistic missile activity. The missile launch came amid protests from Pyongyang against joint military drills by US and South Korean forces and the UN increasing sanctions against the country, dpa reported. "The members of the Security Council stressed that all these launches were unacceptable, constituted a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions," the council said in a statement. One missile was fired at 5:55 am Friday (2055 GMT Thursday) from the west of the country, and travelled around 800 kilometres across North Korean territory before landing in the sea, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, citing Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). Around 22 minutes after the launch, radar signals picked up by the South Korean military indicated a likely second missile launched from the same location, Yonhap said. That signal was lost shortly afterwards, indicating the missile may have exploded in flight, the report said. "An analysis so far indicates it was a missile, but more examination is needed to verify the data," it quoted the JCS as saying. The missiles were thought to be of the Rodong model, which has a range of 1,300 kilometres and can reach all of South Korea and some of Japan, the report said.
