UN chief António Guterres condemns firing of ballistic missiles by North Korea

United Nations: A day after North Korea fired ballistic missiles creating outrage all over the world, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the firing.

Guterres said in a statement that such actions violate Security Council resolutions and seriously undermine regional peace and stability.

“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for the DPRK leadership to refrain from further provocations and return to full compliance with its international obligations,” concluded the statement.

The three missiles launched by South Korea landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said three of the North Korean missiles came down in Tokyo's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) -- waters extending 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from its coast.

In Washington, the State Department strongly condemned the launches, saying the US was ready to "use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against this growing threat".

This is the latest in a series of reported missile launches by the DPRK, all of which have been condemned by the United Nations.

After urgent closed-door talks last month, the UN Security Council, condemning a reported incident in February, issued a press statement expressing serious concern that North Korea conducted these ballistic missile launches.

These launches came after similar exercises by North Korea 12 times since last April, as well as the nuclear test of September 9, “in flagrant disregard of its repeated statements,” the statement said.