TOKYO - North Korea test-fired at least six missiles on Wednesday, including a long-range weapon said to be capable of reaching Alaska, ratcheting up tensions in north Asia and drawing international condemnation.

A satellite image from DigitalGlobe collected on June 9, 2006 shows Musudan-ri in No Dong, North Korea, the area where a missile facility is located. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said on July 5, 2006 that North Korea launched five missiles including a long-range Taepodong 2 missile. [Reuters/DigitalGlobe]

The long-range Taepodong-2 multi-stage missile apparently failed 40 seconds into its flight, U.S. officials said.

The U.N. Security Council was to meet later in the day, at Japan's request, to discuss the latest move by the reclusive Stalinist state, a French spokesman at the United Nations said.

South Korea's military stepped up its alert level after the launch, Yonhap news agency cited a military source as saying.

The two Koreas are technically still at war more than half a century after the inconclusive truce which halted the 1950-1953 Korean conflict. Some 30,000 U.S. troops remain in South Korea under a mutual defence treaty.

The United States warned North Korea against any more provocative acts, and said Washington would take necessary measures to protect itself and its allies.

"The United States strongly condemns these missile launches and North Korea's unwillingness to heed calls for restraint from the international community," White House spokesman Tony Snow said in a statement.

"We are consulting with international partners on next steps."

U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the multiple firings posed no threat to U.S. territory.

He said the launches might have been a Pyongyang attempt to steal the spotlight away from Iran, which has been the main focus of U.S. nuclear diplomacy in recent months.
"Obviously, it is a bit of an effort to get attention, perhaps because so much attention has been focused on the Iranians," Hadley told reporters.

But like many U.S. officials, he said it was impossible to be sure about Pyongyang's motives.