UN aviation agency condemns North Korea missile launches

The UN aviation agency on Thursday condemned recent North Korea missile launches, saying they violated UN Security Council resolutions while posing "a serious risk to international civil aviation."

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), based in Montreal, also renewed a call for North Korea to comply with its civil aviation obligations.

North Korea has conducted multiple sanctions-busting launches this year, including test-firing its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles, and last month attempting to put a military spy satellite into orbit.

Last week it fired two short-range ballistic missiles after Pyongyang warned of an "inevitable" response to ongoing US-South Korea joint military drills.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected the launches from the Sunan area into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.