SEOUL– South Korea’s presidential National Security Council (NSC) on Sunday condemned North Korea’s test-firing of a short-range ballistic missile as a “provocation” that heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the region.

The condemnation came as National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han chaired an emergency meeting shortly after Pyongyang fired the short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea.

President Yoon Suk-yeol was briefed about the North’s launch of the ballistic missile, the presidential office said.

The NSC “condemns the ballistic missile launch as a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a provocation that heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the region, and makes it clear that it cannot be justified for any reason,” according to the office.

The NSC also took note of the North’s missile launch because it was the first test-firing since Pyongyang adopted a law that enshrines its readiness to launch preventive nuclear strikes earlier this month.

The North’s missile launch came two days after a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea for joint drills.

South Korea’s military said it detected the launch from an area in or around Taechon, North Pyongan Province, at 6:53 a.m., and that it flew some 600 kilometers at an apogee of around 60 km at a top speed of Mach 5.

Source: Yonhap News Agency