"The launch has threatened shipping in the Pacific Ocean and violated common practices of advanced missile launch warning," the ministry said in a statement.
North Korea officially announced Wednesday that it had conducted test launches of ballistic missiles and claimed it was the country's sovereign right. The communist nation launched the missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, despite a moratorium on missile tests.
"Russia expresses serious concern over these actions, which run counter the expectations of the global community and its efforts to strengthen peace and stability in the region and could complicate even further the resolution of the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula," the statement said.
The Foreign Ministry also said Wednesday that the North Korean ambassador in Moscow had been summoned to the ministry.
In August 1998, North Korea launched its first three-stage missile, which it said had put a satellite in orbit. The carrier rocket flew over Japan and fell into the Pacific. The U.S. and Japan accused North Korea of testing ballistic missiles at the time.
In September 1999, North Korea declared a moratorium on missile tests to be in effect throughout talks with the U.S. administration, but in 2003 the country withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and lifted the atomic research moratorium in 2005 when the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear talks.
At the last round of six-nation talks in September 2005, that involved the U.S., North Korea, China, South Korea, Russia and Japan, the secretive regime agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees, but later refused to rejoin the talks until Washington lifted financial sanctions imposed over its alleged involvement in counterfeiting and other illegal activities.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has urged the communist regime to continue observing the missile launch moratorium and said it would consult with other participants of six-party talks on the issue.
The UN Security Council said it would hold an emergency meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the developments of the situation on the Korean peninsula.
