NK Missile Test

[Anchor Lead]

The U.N. Security Council has adopted a statement strongly condemning Pyongyang's latest mid-range ballistic missile test. It's the U.N.'s seventh statement regarding North Korea to be issued this year alone.

[Pkg]

The U.N. Security Council convened an emergency meeting on June 23 and the next day adopted a statement on Pyongyang's latest test of medium-range ballistic missiles. The Security Council strongly condemned Pyongyang's missile test conducted on June 22 as a serious violation of the council's resolutions. The council stated clearly that all of the North's missile activities represent its efforts to develop a nuclear delivery system.

[Soundbite] Samantha Power(U.S. Ambassador to U.N.)

The Security Council urged the U.N. member-states to step up their efforts to implement sanctions against the North. The North's sixth Musudan missile is regarded to have been successful after soaring more than a thousand kilometers high and flying about 400 kilometers. Such technological progress has prompted some in the United States to call for strengthening the missile defense system in the Asia-Pacific region and introducing new sanctions against North Korea.