UN Security Council to meet on DPRK missile launches: sources

UN Security Council

UNITED NATIONS, July 31 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting Thursday to discuss the latest ballistic missile launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), diplomatic sources said Wednesday.

According to a media alert issued by UN's Media Accreditation & Liaison Unit (MALU), the meeting will be held in the Security Council's consultations room Thursday morning to discuss "program of work" and "other matters."

MALU did not specify what "other matters" refer to.

Poland is scheduled to take over on Thursday the monthly presidency of the Security Council from Peru, whose presidency ended on July 31.

The Council normally meets at the end of each month to discuss its "program of work" for the next month behind closed doors.

Sources said that the latest DPRK missile launches will be discussed at the request of Britain, France and Germany.

The DPRK fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday.

The two missiles were launched at 5:06 a.m. and 5:27 a.m. local time each near the DPRK's eastern city of Wonsan, traveling about 250 km at an altitude of some 30 km.