Lithuanian ForMin slams missile launches by North Korea as provocation

VILNIUS – The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has slammed two ballistic missile launches by North Korea on Sunday as a provocative action posing a threat to regional peace and security.

“The last ballistic missile launches by North Korea represent another provocative action threatening regional peace and security. Our full solidarity with South Korea and Japan and backing all efforts for de-escalation,” the ministry said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.

North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles Sunday, Seoul's military said, days after Pyongyang announced a successful test of a solid-fuel motor for a new weapons system.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected two medium-range ballistic missiles that had been fired from the Tongchang-ri area in North Pyongan province.

They were fired on a "lofted" trajectory and flew around 500 kilometers, JCS said in a statement.

North Korea is under multiple UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile activity since 2006.