PH condemns North Korea ballistic missile launch

The Philippines on Tuesday condemned North Korea's firing of two ballistic missiles, calling it an act of provocation that undermines regional peace and stability.

Pyongyang, according to reports, launched two missiles on Monday, a day after the United States, South Korea and Japan wrapped up their military drills.

Manila said North Korea's missile launch "provokes tensions and undermines economic progress, peace, and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the lndo-Pacific region."

"The Philippines has repeatedly called on the DPRK to comply with its international obligations and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and to commit to constructive and peaceful dialogue with the Republic of Korea," the Department of Foreign Affairs said, using North Korea's official name Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK.

South Korea said the second missile likely failed soon after launch, blowing up in flight over land.

Instability in the Korean Peninsula has long worried the Philippines due to the large presence of Filipino workers in South Korea, numbering to at least 60,000.

An escalation of conflict is also seen to affect about 242,000 Filipinos in Japan.

"The Philippines has consistently supported the call for a complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the DPRK," the DFA said.

Last Monday, North Korea said it successfully tested a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a 4.5-ton super-large warhead, state news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday.

The KCNA report did not make clear if two missiles were launched and referred to the projectile in a singular term.

It said the test of the new tactical ballistic missile, named Hwasongpho-11 Da-4.5, was conducted with a simulated heavy warhead to verify flight stability and accuracy.

It did not elaborate on the nature of the simulated warhead.

North Korea's report on the missile test was likely "deception" with one of the two missiles flying abnormally and appearing to show up in a field not far from Pyongyang, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Colonel Lee Sung-jun told a briefing.

"Conducting a test-fire inland is extremely rare and it is highly likely to be false to claim it has succeeded," Lee said.

South Korea's military conducted artillery drills at ranges within five kms (three miles) of the Military Demarcation Line inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Tuesday morning, an Army official said during the briefing.

The resumption of such live-fire exercises near the border comes following the suspension of a military pact signed with Pyongyang after the North launched hundreds of balloons carried by wind across the border that dropped trash throughout South Korea. — VDV, GMA Integrated News