UN condemns North Korea moratorium-breaching missile test

UN chief Antonio Guterres has condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile test, which broke a 2018 moratorium by Pyongyang. 

Guterres said the launch as "a clear violation of Security Council resolutions," in a statement on Tuesday.

"It is of great concern that the DPRK has again disregarded any consideration for international flight or maritime safety," he added, using the acronym for North Korea's full name.

He urged Pyongyang "to desist from taking any further counter-productive actions" and called for a diplomatic solution.

North Korea confirmed on Monday it had fired a Hwasong-12 "ground-to-ground intermediate- and long-range ballistic missile," in a first test since 2017 of a weapon that powerful.

The test on Sunday was North Korea's seventh in January - the most ever carried out by the country in a calendar month, raising fears Pyongyang could renew nuclear and intercontinental missile tests.

READ MORE: US seeks direct talks after North Korea tests 'most powerful' missile

Blaming "hostile" policy of US 

Earlier in January, North Korea had threatened to abandon a nearly five-year-long, self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range and nuclear weapons, blaming US "hostile" policy for forcing its hand.

In 2017, the UN Security Council on three occasions decided unanimously to impose new heavy economic sanctions on Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile tests. 

The sanctions, the Council's latest show of unity over North Korea, target the country's oil imports as well as its coal, iron, textile or fishing exports.

READ MORE: North Korea tests longest-range missile in five years