UN Security Council adopts statement strongly condemning North Korea missile launch

The UN Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously adopted a statement condemning North Korea's ballistic missile launch on Thursday (6 April).

The Council's stinging remarks come within days of the North test-firing a ballistic missile, which landed in the East Sea, otherwise called the Sea of Japan.

The hermit kingdom launched a medium-range projectile on Wednesday (5 April), which flew about 60km before crashing. North Korea has remained silent on the missile launch, but American officials say it was a failure.

The UN body's press statement called on North Korea to immediately halt its provocative acts, which seriously threaten the peace and stability in the Korean peninsula region. It added that Pyongyang's actions "are significantly increasing tensions in the region and beyond".

All the 15 members of the global body have agreed that the North's "highly-destabilising behaviour and flagrant and provocative defiance of the Security Council" are serious causes of concern.

The Council had also asked its members to redouble their efforts to enforce the resolutions against the North in order to limit its nuclear and missile programmes.

Despite a series of international sanctions against North Korea, Kim Jong-un's regime continues to defy UN regulations by repeatedly bolstering its weapons development programme.

Both Japan and South Korea have welcomed the UNSC's condemnation, saying it sends the right message to the North. Seoul's foreign ministry said the UNSC's remarks are a swift and resolute response to North Korea.