Television broadcast of missile launch from North Korea. File photoSEUL, Jan 30South Korea's National Security Council (NSC) condemned North Korea's launch of a medium-range ballistic missile and demanded a moratorium and a return to dialogue and diplomacy, the Republic of Korea's presidential administration said.NSC meeting passed on Sunday under the chairmanship of President Moon Jae-in, who personally presided over such a meeting for the first time since January last year. The meeting was also attended by Director of the National Security Administration under the President of South Korea Seo Hoon, Minister of Unification Lee In-young, Foreign Minister Jung Ui-yong, Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the DPRK No Gyu Deok and others.
The President of South Korea called the launch of the DPRK missile a violation of UN Security Council resolutions «We condemn today's launch of a medium-range ballistic missile by North Korea as a challenge to UN Security Council resolutions and the demands of the international community to resolve the issue of stability, peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through diplomacy. We demand from North Korea immediately stop activities that cause instability in the region and create tension on the Korean peninsula, observe a moratorium and return to the path of diplomatic solutions as soon as possible through dialogue,» the NSC said in a statement following the meeting. The South Korean military on Sunday said that the DPRK launched one allegedly ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan from the area of the North Korean province of Chagando. The flight range was approximately 800 kilometers, the highest flight altitude was two thousand kilometers. South Korean President Moon Jae-in noted that such a launch could be considered as Pyongyang is close to lifting the moratorium on launching ICBMs and conducting nuclear tests, which it has voluntarily adhered to since late 2017. Earlier in January, Kim Jong-un ordered, due to Washington's hostile policies, that Pyongyang's «self-initiated» confidence-building measures with the United States be reviewed and that «all temporarily suspended activities» be resumed.
North Korea is close to violating the moratorium on ICBM launches, the head of South Korea said
