The United States Tuesday warned North Korea not to test-fire a ballistic missile, saying any such launch would be in violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution, Yonhap News reported Wednesday.
"I mean, obviously, the testing of missiles by North Korea would be in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said in a daily news briefing.
The spokesperson was responding to reports that North Korea is preparing to test-launch a long-range missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S., in an apparent effort to attract the attention of the new U.S. administration.
The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in July 2006 soon after North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile, demanding the reclusive communist state halt its missile launches and banning all U.N. member states from selling and purchasing missiles and any other weapons of mass destruction and their technologies to and from Pyongyang.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood also depicted any ballistic missile launches by North Korea as being "unhelpful and, frankly, provocative," saying, "North Korea's missile activities and, you know, its missile programs are of concern to the region. There's no secret there."
Neither Wood nor Morrell would confirm the reports of the North's imminent ballistic missile launch, citing a policy not to comment on intelligence matters.
The reports come amid allegations that the Barack Obama administration is sidelining the North Korean nuclear issue due to the ongoing economic crisis and heightening tension in the Gaza Strip and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama's appointments suggest his priorities. Since taking office a couple of weeks ago, Obama has nominated a special envoy for the Middle East, former Sen. George Mitchell, but has not yet appointed a special envoy for North Korea amid reports that Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. envoy for six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear dismantlement, has been tapped as new U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
Analysts say North Korea has been escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks, timed with Obama's inauguration so it could attract the new U.S. president's attention.