Japan on Tuesday slammed North Korea's latest ballistic missile test as another breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions, while China called for dialogue with the isolated country over its weapons programs.

Criticizing the North's "triumphant and emboldened manner" in accelerating missile tests, Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Koro Bessho strongly condemned Sunday's launch, saying Pyongyang is "now clearly demonstrating that it is determined to further bolster its nuclear buildup."


(Rodong Sinmun)

"The international community must not leave this total defiance of the Security Council unanswered," he said following an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the missile test.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi, however, sidestepped talk of further sanctions as "hypothetical" at present. "We can only resolve the issue through dialogue," he said.

"Of course the measures prescribed in the previous Security Council resolutions should be implemented firmly, but meanwhile we should also work to reduce tension, to de-escalate and also to try to achieve denuclearizaton through dialogue by political and diplomatic means," Liu said.

"If you look at the history (of) efforts toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, every progress was achieved as a result of dialogue, so there is no reason why dialogue is not taking place in the current situation," he added. "It takes political will."

While Washington has been pressing for the imposition of harsher sanctions, including a possible oil embargo, as a response to what it sees as an increasingly provocative North Korea, there has been reluctance from China, the North's closest ally and largest trading partner.

The U.S. mission to the United Nations, represented by Ambassador Michele Sison while top envoy Nikki Haley is on her first official trip overseas to Turkey and Jordan, did not comment on Tuesday's meeting or potential next steps.

The latest testing of ballistic missile technology, which the North is banned from using under previous U.N. resolutions, was carried out on Sunday with the missile flying about 500 kilometers before falling into waters off the country's east coast.

The test, deemed "successful" by Pyongyang, represents another advance toward leader Kim Jong Un's goal of mass production and deployment of a new medium- to long-range ballistic missile, and follows on the heels of the previous launch on May 14, which prompted an emergency council meeting two days later.


(Rodong Sinmun)

The Security Council's closed-door meeting came a day after issuing a statement that "strongly condemns" the missile test. The emergency talks, the second in a span of a week, were called jointly by the United States, Japan and South Korea.

North Korea has dismissed the censure, saying the test was "part of the normal process for bolstering the military capabilities for self-defense."

Pyongyang has carried out a total of five underground nuclear tests, including two last year alone, and Kim has warned of a sixth such test as well as development of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.

North Korea's test-firings and pursuit of nuclear weapons violate six previous sanctions resolutions that have been imposed on the country beginning in 2006.

"I think it's very important that the Security Council comes together in a speedy way to respond with further substantive (and) significant measures," British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters.

He suggested Britain is likely to support actions including tightening sanctions on key individuals and entities and further restriction of financial transactions.

Ambassador Elbio Rosselli of Uruguay, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month, said Pyongyang's launching of 11 missiles so far this year "means a quantum leap in a determined effort to acquire aggressive capabilities, and that is a major concern."

Rosselli said the meeting was "very similar" to the emergency session last week, as "things haven't changed that much from one week to the next, but what is undeniable is the very solid view of all the members of the council that the attitude and the conduct (of North Korea) is totally unacceptable."

"From there, where the council is moving will be a matter of continued discussion," he said.

(Rodong Sinmun)