Beijing urges DPRK to heed UN after missile launch

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea launches a long range rocket launched into the air in this file still image taken from KRT video footage, released by Yonhap on February 7, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The Foreign Ministry called on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions after the DPRK launched a missile on Friday.

"There are definite stipulations in the UN Security Council resolutions concerning the issue of the DPRK launching ballistic missiles. China urges the DPRK to implement these resolutions," ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a news conference on Friday.

"We hope all parties will stay calm and refrain from taking actions that may increase tensions on the peninsula," he said.

Yonhap News Agency quoted the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying that on Friday morning, the DPRK launched a ballistic missile that flew about 800 kilometers before falling into waters off the DPRK's east coast.

"The missile dropped into waters within the Japanese Air Defense Identification Zone," the agency quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying.

The Joint Chiefs said the military's radar detected a suspected second missile launched from the same area, but lost track of it.

The launch came several days after the DPRK's leader, Kim Jong-un, was reported to have said that the DPRK would soon conduct tests including launches of missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

On March 2, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution that the DPRK "shall not conduct any further launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests, or any other provocation", after the Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test in January and launched a satellite in February.

The nuclear test in January led to mounting tension in the peninsula, with the United States considering the deployment of an advanced missile defense system in the ROK and the ongoing joint drills between the US and the ROK.

Yu Shaohua, a researcher of Korean Peninsula studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the DPRK's move is "very dangerous".

"China is concerned that as the situation on the peninsula is extremely tense, any move by any party that makes the tension flare could bring unpredictable outcomes," she said.

The international community should not only warn the DPRK, but also call for the US and the ROK to maintain calm and restrained, she said.