The United States criticized North Korea's launching of four short-range missiles today as "dangerous" and urged Pyongyang to return to nuclear disarmament negotiations, according to dpa. "These kinds of launches are nothing new. We've seen them many times in the past," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "North Korea knows exactly what it has to do," he added. "They need to cut out these kinds of provocative actions and return to denuclearization talks." The South Korean Defence Ministry confirmed that North Korea carried out the launches over the Sea of Japan. They were believed to be anti-ship cruise missiles. Tensions with North Korea have been high since it pulled out of the six-nation nuclear talks, tested a long-range missile and conducted an underground test of a nuclear bomb in May.
