UN Security Council condemns DPRK's missile launch, urges peaceful solution

The United Nations Security Council has condemned the latest missile launch by Pyongyang and urged a peaceful solution to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

In a press statement released on Friday after closed-door consultations, the 15 members of the council condemned "the highly provocative launch of a ballistic missile" by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The DPRK fired a missile over Japan's northern island Hokkaido and into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, which came only days after the Security Council voted in favor of a resolution toughening sanctions on the DPRK over its nuclear test early this month.

"The Security Council also emphasized the vital importance of the DPRK immediately showing a sincere commitment to denuclearization through concrete action, and stressed the importance of working to reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula," said Tekeda Alemu, president of the Security Council, in a readout of the press statement.

The council members stressed the importance of maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia at large, and welcomed international efforts to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the crisis through dialogue, said Alemu, the Ethiopian ambassador to the United Nations.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia also warned that there is no alternative to a peaceful solution.

"Threats, tests, launches, mutual threats should be stopped. We should engage in meaningful negotiations," he told reporters after the consultations.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated recently after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to deal with the DPRK with "fire and fury" last month. Since then, Pyongyang has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to fire missiles into the waters around the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam and launched two missiles over Japan.

To ease tensions, China has been committed to a peaceful solution by supporting Security Council sanctions on one hand, and on the other proposing initiatives which aim to suspend hostilities by both Pyongyang and Washington.

However, the crisis on the Korean Peninsula has spilled over and endangered regional security and stability, as well as relations between other countries.

Trump tweeted earlier this month that the United States is considering "stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea (DPRK)."

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said Friday "both China and the United States benefit from bilateral trade, so efforts to undermine Sino-U.S. trade, or even slapping sanctions on China, I think would be off-target."