In an emergency National Security Council meeting, the South Korean government expressed regret over what it called “a short-range missile launch” by the North. South Korea’s military earlier said the object fired from North Korea’s mountainous northern Jagang province flew toward the waters off the North’s eastern coast. A ballistic missile launch would violate a U.N. Security Council ban on North Korean ballistic activities, but the council typically doesn’t impose new sanctions on North Korea for launches of short-range weapons. Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Tuesday North Korea remains unresponsive to South Korea’s attempts to exchange messages over the channels. DPRK refers to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
