WASHINGTON (AFP)--The U.S. urged North Korea on Saturday not to "aggravate tensions" as it called Pyongyang's latest missile launches "not helpful."
"North Korea should refrain from actions that aggravate tensions and focus on denuclearization talks and the implementation of its commitments from the Sept. 19, 2005 joint statement," said U.S. State Department spokesman Karl Duckworth.
"This type of North Korean behavior is not helpful," he told AFP after North Korea test-fired seven missiles off its east coast earlier Saturday, according to South Korean officials.
The ballistic missiles - which the North is banned from firing under U.N. resolutions - were launched into the Sea of Japan.
It was the biggest salvo of ballistic weaponry since the North fired a long-range Taepodong-2 and six smaller missiles on the U.S. Independence Day in 2006.
Under the 2005 agreement, North Korea promised to give up its nuclear program in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to attack or invade it and to work toward normalized relations.
The U.S. and other parties to the agreement - China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea - also offered to put together an energy package for North Korea.
But North Korea announced last April that it was walking out of the six-party talks and resuming operation of its nuclear facilities.
Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test in May.
"What North Korea needs to do is fulfill its international obligations and commitments," Duckworth said, adding that North Korean missile launches "highlight the importance of fully implementing the provisions of the U.N. resolutions."
Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=%2BfhAlRqrEit8ajqqv9HwJg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

Publié le 04 Juillet 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones