UN talks to discuss North Korea missile tests

The UN Security Council will hold consultations Thursday over North Korea's recent ballistic missile tests, the council presidency said Thursday. The closed door meeting has been requested by the United States, diplomats said. Word of the talks came from the mission from Luxembourg, which now holds the presidency of the 15-member council. The ambassadors from the 15 members will hear a report from the deputy secretary general for political affairs, Jeffrey Feltman. North Korea test-fired two medium-range ballistic missiles Wednesday in response to President Barack Obama's hosting of a landmark Japan-South Korea summit in The Hague. Washington condemned the tests as "troubling and provocative." South Korea's defence ministry said two North Korean missiles flew 650 kilometres (400 miles) into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), upping the ante after a series of shorter-range launches in recent weeks. The tests go against UN resolutions barring Pyongyang from any nuclear or ballistic activity.