S. Korea denounces DPRK's test-launch of ballistic missile

South Korea denounced the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s test-launch of a ballistic missile on Sunday, the first since U.S. President Donald Trump took office last month.

Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement that the launch was a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the international community.

The statement said repeated DPRK provocations are a direct challenge to the international society's concerted will reflected in the Resolution 2321, unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council.

Pyongyang fired off what is presumed to an intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile, called Hwaseong-10 in the DPRK, from its northwestern North Pyongan province earlier in the day.

It flew about 500 km and landed in waters off the DPRK's east coast. Musudan can put the entire Japan and the U.S. military base in Guam in its target range as it is known to have a range of 3,000-4,000 km.

Sunday's launch was the first in 2017 and also the first since Trump was sworn in as the U.S. president on Jan. 20. Seoul's military said it was part of armed protest against the new U.S. administration's hard-line stance toward the DPRK.

Concerns had persisted about the DPRK's possible test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the near future as the moves of two DPRK mobile launchers carrying ICBMs were reportedly detected by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities.

The Musudan test-launch may be important to the advancement in the DPRK's ICBM technology as the propellant of its three-stage ICBM is believed to be composed of four Musudan missile engines.

The DPRK has never successfully tested its ICBM. Under the UN resolution, Pyongyang is banned from testing any ballistic missile technology. Endit