SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The Latest on North Korean missile test (all times local):
5:05 p.m.
The U.N. Security Council is condemning North Korea’s “highly provocative” ballistic missile test that flew over Japan and urging Pyongyang to take immediate action to demonstrate its commitment to denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.
The U.N.’s most powerful body stressed in a press statement after an emergency council meeting Friday that all 193 member states must “fully, comprehensively and immediately” implement all U.N. sanctions.
The council “stressed the importance of working to reduce tension in the Korean Peninsula” - and it reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula divided between authoritarian North Korea and democratic South Korea.
The statement welcomed efforts by members of the Security Council and other countries to promote “a peaceful and comprehensive solution” to the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue.
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1 a.m.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is condemning North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch as a serious violation of Security Council resolutions coming less than two weeks after its sixth nuclear test, which also violated a U.N. ban.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general called on North Korea’s leaders “to cease further testing, comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions, and allow space to explore the resumption of sincere dialogue on denuclearization.”
North Korea conducted its longest-ever test flight of a ballistic missile Friday, sending an intermediate-range weapon over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean.
Dujarric said in a statement issued at U.N. headquarters in New York that Guterres will be discussing the situation on the Korean Peninsula with “all concerned parties” on the sidelines of next week’s annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly.
The Security Council is holding an emergency meeting on the latest launch Friday afternoon at the request of the United States and Japan.
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9:30 p.m.
France says it is ready to work on tougher U.N. and EU measures to help bring North Korea to the negotiating table.
The French Foreign Ministry condemned “with the greatest firmness” the North Korean missile launched over Japan on Friday, the second in less than a month, warning that it threatens regional and international security.
It noted that the U.N. Security Council is holding an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launch, and that North Korea will be further discussed at the U.N. General Assembly next week.
The ministry did not elaborate on what further sanctions might be discussed, after the Security Council approved a sixth round of sanctions Monday over North Korea’s most recent nuclear test.
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8 p.m.
South Korea says President Moon Jae-in has talked over the telephone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the two countries’ response to North Korea’s latest missile launch.
Presidential spokesman Park Su-hyun said Friday that the two leaders agreed to cooperate in identifying “stern and effective measures” against North Korea to be discussed at next week’s United Nations General Assembly ministerial meetings.
Park said President Moon expressed sympathy for the worries of Japanese people about the missile, the second launched over Japan by North Korea in less than a month.
On Monday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously for new sanctions against North Korea over its recent nuclear test, its sixth.
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7:55 p.m.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized North Korea’s latest missile launch and warned it will cause a spike in regional tensions.
Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia “resolutely condemns” such moves and said that the missile test will “lead to the further growth of tensions and the further escalation of tensions on the (Korean) peninsula.”
Russia backed a resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council last week that slapped new economic sanctions on Pyongyang for its latest nuclear explosion test and missiles launches.
But the Kremlin has also been critical of calls from Washington to ramp up the sanction pressure on North Korea. Last week, Putin criticized the U.S. for fueling “military hysteria” in the region and called for a political settlement.
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6:50 p.m.
China’s foreign ministry has condemned North Korea’s latest missile launch and is calling for all sides to seek dialogue to reduce tensions.
Spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters Friday that the situation on the Korean Peninsula following Friday’s longest-ever test flight of a ballistic missile remains “complex, sensitive and severe.”
Hua urged all parties to avoid actions that might inflame the situation, while adding that China, North Korea’s chief economic partner and diplomatic ally, did not hold the key to resolving the issue.
Hua says: “What is pressing now is that all sides should immediately halt their dangerous and provocative actions and words that escalate the tension.”
China, one of five permanent veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, agreed to the latest sanctions that cap fuel exports, ban textile sales and forbid countries from issuing new work permits to North Korean workers.
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