S. Korea reports more test-fires from North

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"Successive American presidents have insisted on a number of preconditions before any serious peace negotiations could start, including a commitment to denuclearization and the halting of further missile tests", the experts said.

The North's missile tests present a hard challenge to Moon.

Of the North's missile test, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch came from the North Korean eastern coastal town of Wonsan, and that the projectiles likely flew about 125 miles with an apogee of more than 1 mile.

That was in response to a spate of recent ballistic missile tests which violate United Nations sanctions.

"We are closely watching related news reports and taking note of varying reports on the nature of the fired projectiles", she said, reminding that UNSC resolutions deal with North Korea's ballistic missile technology development and its related activities.

President Moon convened his first meeting of the National Security Council Thursday where he ordered heightened military readiness to respond to any North Korean provocation.

North Korea's weapons tests are meant to build a nuclear and missile program that can stand up to what it sees as US and South Korean hostility, but they are also considered by outside analysts as ways to make its political demands clear to leaders in Washington and Seoul.

"The government has dealt with actions of North Korea based on responses of the worldwide community, however, we don't think this (North Korea's missile launch this time) is something we need to protest against", he said.

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The country already fired 16 missiles in 2017, The launch came only a day after South Korea's Moon Jae-in delayed the deployment of a US missile defense system.

"North Korea has been stepping up missile tests ... in order to project an image to the world that global sanctions can never bring it to its knees", Professor Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies told AFP.

South Korea said its neighbor is trying to showcase its capabilities in an effort to deter any future joint US-South Korean naval drills. "We will continue to coordinate with the US and South Korea to gather and analyse information, and maintain a high level of alert", Fumio Kishida, Japanese foreign minister, was quoted to have said.

Last week, the South Korean Defense Ministry approved the delivery of four remaining launchers without informing the presidential office.

China has called on Pyongyang to suspend its testing while calling on the United States to stop military exercises on and near the Korean Peninsula, which North Korea sees as a threat to its sovereignty.

The North has carried out two atomic tests and dozens of missile launches since the beginning of previous year in its quest to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States - something President Donald Trump has vowed "won't happen".

But most agree that the country has made significant progress under Kim Jong-Un, who took power after the death of his father and longtime ruler, Kim Jong-Il, in December 2011.

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