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NKorea should heed voice of intl community and dump missile launching

“The launching of a missile will be a violation of the UN Security Council resolution,” said Kim Sung-hwan

TOKYO, April 7 (Itar-Tass) — North Korea should heed the voice of the international community and cancel the launching of a missile next week.

This common opinion was reached on Saturday by Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kim Sung-hwan at their meeting in the Chinese city of Ningbo.

“The launching of a missile will be a violation of the UN Security Council resolution,” said Kim Sung-hwan. “We believe that Pyongyang should heed the joint opinion of the international community and ditch the launching.” The sides also agreed that the UN Security Council should take measures against North Korea if the latter translates into life its plans.

The Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers will discuss the problem of the North Korean missile with their Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on Sunday.

North Korea announced that the blast-off of a long-range missile with a satellite would take place between April 12 and 16 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth date of the country’s founder Kim Il-Sung.

According to the flight chart, submitted by Pyongyang, the missile’s first stage will drop off the western coast of South Korea, while the second – east of the main Philippine island of Luson.

Japanese Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka issued an order to national forces of self-defence to down the North Korean missile if it or its fragments will present a threat for the country’s territory.