NATO Slams N Korean 'Provocative' Missile Tests Violating UNSC Resolutions

North Korea’s latest missile tests violate a number of the UN Security Council resolutions and are "especially provocative," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Monday.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — She reminded that in December 2016, NATO and its regional partners Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea "urged North Korea to refrain from further provocative acts," and reiterated that call, adding that Pyongyang needs to return to the dialogue with the international community as soon as possible.

"I strongly condemn the most recent reported ballistic missile tests conducted by North Korea. Once again, these missile tests are in direct violation of a series of Security Council Resolutions which require North Korea to cease all activities related to its ballistic missile programmes and to abandon all existing weapons of mass destruction programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. These most recent tests, where three missiles reportedly landed in Japanese controlled waters, are especially provocative," she said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the South Korean Defense Ministry reported that an unidentified missile by North Korea had taken place at 7:36 a.m. local time (22:36 GMT on Sunday). Japan later said that Pyongyang had launched a total of four missiles, with three of these landing in Japanese territorial waters.

China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have expressed concern over the launch, as well as Spain, France and the European Union.

North Korea has not commented on the missile launch yet.