MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea is planning to test-fire additional short-range missiles soon, following Monday's nuclear test and three missile launches, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday.
Pyongyang conducted a second underground test of a nuclear device with a yield of up to 20 kilotons and test-launched three short-range surface-to-air missiles on Monday in defiance of previous UN resolutions.
North Korea "has banned ships from the waters off its west coast and could launch what appears to be 'KN-01' anti-ship cruise missiles either Tuesday or Wednesday," Yonhap quoted an unnamed South Korean official as saying.
The United Nations condemned late on Monday North Korea's actions as a "clear violation" of a 2006 resolution banning North Korea from pursuing its controversial nuclear program. The UN Security Council unanimously agreed to start work on a new resolution that may include additional and stronger sanctions against Pyongyang than in the previous document.
The reclusive communist regime had been threatening for several weeks to resume work at its Yongbyon nuclear facility, which produces weapons-grade plutonium, after withdrawing from six-nation talks. The move came in response to international condemnation of an April 5 rocket launch, which Pyongyang said was carrying a communications satellite.
North Korea had also said it would conduct further nuclear tests and rocket launches to ensure its security and defense capability.
Pyongyang withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003 and conducted its first nuclear test explosion in October 2006.
