Seoul sends protest to UN over North Korea missile launch

South Korea has sent a letter to the United Nations calling for North Korea to be punished for its recent test-firings of short-range missiles, a government source said Monday.
A week earlier, North Korea launched two short-range missiles into the East Sea in apparent protest against the start of joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises on the peninsula.
The missile launches also came with threats of further military action over what the country deems as Seoul and Washington's rehearsal for a war against it.
"As far as I know (the South Korean government) has sent a letter stating that the North's firing of two ballistic missiles on the starting day of the joint South Korea-U.S. Key Resolve exercise is a clear violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution and a counteraction is needed," the government source said.
The letter was conveyed to the North Korea sanctions committee under the Security Council, he said. The committee was established pursuant to resolution 1718, which was adopted in 2006, right after the communist country's first nuclear test.
The resolution, along with other similar resolutions adopted later on the North, prohibits the communist country from conducting nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches.
In similar efforts to curb North Korea's military provocations, Seoul is also reviewing taking steps with like-minded countries to voice complaints over North Korea's recent action.
Seoul filed a similar letter with the U.N. committee on North Korea sanctions last year after the North conducted a flurry of ballistic missile test-firings in the first half of 2014.
In a follow-up step, a panel of experts under the sanctions committee will review the legality of the ballistic missile tests before deciding whether to formally file the case with the committee.
It is unlikely that the latest case will directly lead to the U.N. taking any action against the North. However, the case will likely be added to a list of resolution violations by the North for future action.