Anger as North Korea launches another missile

North Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast, a day after launching three more of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said.

Launches by the North of short-range missiles are not uncommon but, after recent warnings from the communist state of impending nuclear war, such actions have raised concerns about the region’s security.

“North Korea fired a short-range missile as it did yesterday into its east sea in the afternoon,” South Korea’s news agency Yonhap reported, citing a military official.

A South Korean defence ministry official confirmed the Yonhap report, but did not provide any details.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was concerned about North Korea’s launch of short- range missiles, urging Pyonyang to refrain from further launches and return to stalled nuclear talks with world powers.

Ban, who spoke to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti during a visit to Moscow, called the launch a “provocative action”. The UN Security Council imposed tougher sanctions against Pyongyang following its third nuclear test in February.