South Korea's Security Council Calls On North Korea To Cease Projectile Launches

South Korea's Security Council Calls on North Korea to Cease Projectile Launches

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2019) South Korea's National Security Council on Friday called on North Korea to stop its projectile launches due to the ongoing US-South Korean military drills, expressing concerns that such activities might further fuel tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

"Members of the council are calling on North Korea to cease its launches over the ongoing South Korea-US exercises because they may increase military tensions on the peninsula," the council said in a statement, published on the South Korean presidential administration's Facebook.

The council members agreed to "thoroughly analyze characteristics of projectiles in close coordination with the United States."

The council was convened in the wake of North Korea's most recent launch of two projectiles early on Friday, which was its sixth round of launches since July 25.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that the projectiles flew around 230 kilometers (143 miles) at a maximum altitude of 30 kilometers at a speed of Mach 6.1.

North Korea has been opposing the annual US-South Korean drills. Earlier in August, Pyongyang warned that South Korea would pay a price for holding them.

Last week, US President Donald Trump, who is engaged in denuclearization talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said he had received a letter from Kim, in which the North Korean leader said he was not happy with the US-South Korean exercise.