North Korea fires new type of missile off east coast; North Korea urged not to use PSI to justify threats
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    • In a very important development in the region, North Korea has launched a short-range missile from its Musudan-ri rocket launch site on the country's east coast. This was reported by a South Korean government official. "What the North has launched this time appears to be different from what it had launched (previously)," the official said. "It is a new type of a land-to-air missile," the official said1. Meanwhile there have been reports that South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan is expected to meet with his US counterpart Hillary Clinton in Washington on June 5 to discuss North Korea's latest threats. This was reported by ministry officials on May 292.

    There were reports by the Foreign Ministry which suggest that North Korea is severely distorting the intention behind South Korea's recent decision to join a US-led anti-proliferation campaign, while urging Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear and missile programs3. To this, the North Korea said that it would conduct military strikes and would no longer be bound to the armistice agreement in response to Seoul's recent decision to fully join the Proliferation Security Initiative4. On the other hand the US welcomed South Korea's full-scale participation in the international consortium against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which aims mainly at North Korea and Iran5.

    South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Jeju on May 31 for a special summit with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that will focus on expanding economic ties and efforts to fight the global economic crisis, Yonhap News reported. The special Korea-ASEAN summit marks the 20th anniversary of the "dialogue partnership" between the two sides6.

    On the bilateral front, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo agreed to improve ties between their countries and join efforts to peacefully resolve the North Korea nuclear issue7.

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