THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: Philippines condemns North Korea's missle launch

Sourced from The Philippine Star:

The Philippines condemned North Korea's latest missile launch and the resumption of the processing of its nuclear materials and nuclear testing.

The latest submarine launch of a ballistic missile was last Aug. 24, a day after the United States and South Korea began their annual military exercises.

North Korea had carried out six ballistic missile firings between April and June despite the demand of the United Nations to halt all missile launches and nuclear tests.

The Philippines said North Korea's actions seriously undermine regional peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.

"We reiterate our call on the DPRK to comply with its international obligations under relevant UN Security Council resolutions and commit to the process of constructive dialogue," the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement released Tuesday.

Meanwhile, North Korea has denounced a UN Security Council statement condemning its four latest ballistic missile launches, calling it a "hostile act."

Last Friday, a press statement approved by 15 Security Council members called the missile launched in July and August "grave violations" and called for a ban on all ballistic missile activity.

A statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry warned the UN correspondents that they have "substantial means capable of reducing aggression troops in the US mainland and the operational theater in the Pacific to ashes in a moment."

Pyongyang further claimed that the US instigated the statement and called it "a reckless provocation harassing peace and stability on the Korean peninsula."

"This is an illegal action taken by the world body to side with the US in the acute standoff between the DPRK and the US without an iota of impartiality," the ministry said, using the initials of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons development programs have brought heavy international sanctions down on its head, but Pyongyang said they are justified because of the threat posed by the US and South Korea.