UN to Hold Emergency Meeting on North Korea

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the latest North Korean missile launch at the request of the United States and Japan.

The council was to hold closed consultations on the launch late Wednesday afternoon.

South Korean officials said a ballistic missile fired from a North Korean submarine on Wednesday flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles), the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.

That means all of South Korea, and possibly parts of Japan, are within its striking distance.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the launch "in defiance of the united call of the international community to reverse its course is deeply troubling," according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"Not only are such actions a clear violation of relevant Security Council resolutions but they also undermine peace and stability in the Korean peninsula," Dujarric said.

The secretary-general called on North Korea "to take steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue on denuclearization," he said.

A North Korean nuclear test in January and a series of missile launches by Pyongyang have all been carried out in violation of Security Council resolutions.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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