UN chief condemns DPRK's missile launch

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Sunday's ballistic missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said his deputy spokesman on Tuesday.

"The secretary-general condemns the launch of a ballistic missile of possible intermediate-range by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Jan. 30. This is a breaking of the DPRK's announced moratorium in 2018 on launches of this nature, and a clear violation of Security Council resolutions," said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman, in a statement.

"It is of great concern that the DPRK has again disregarded any consideration for international flight or maritime safety. The secretary-general urges the DPRK to desist from taking any further counter-productive actions and calls for all parties to seek a peaceful diplomatic solution," said the statement.

The official Korean Central News Agency of the DPRK reported that the country test-fired a Hwasong 12-type ground-to-ground intermediate- and long-range ballistic missile on Sunday.