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By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

On July 17, the UN Security Council (UNSC) criticized North Korea’s repeated short-range ballistic missile launches as a violation of the council’s resolutions on North Korea.

Eugene Gasana, UN Ambassador for Rwanda, the country that is currently chairing the council, met with reporters following closed-door deliberations on Thursday. "The members of the Security Council condemned these launches . . . and urged the DPRK (North Korea) to fully comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions," the ambassador said.

The four existing UNSC resolutions about North Korea (1718, 1874, 2087, and 2094) forbid it from launching any projectile that uses ballistic missile technology.

The response made by the UNSC on Thursday took the form of a verbal statement to the press, in which the UNSC chair explains to the press what the council members discussed. Since the statement was not recorded, it is the mildest form of censure that the UNSC can give.

However, the very fact that the UNSC responded in this way to North Korea’s short-range missile launch is highly irregular. Thus far, the UNSC has typically discussed North Korea when it launches a long-range missile or carries out a nuclear weapons test.

“It is very unusual for the UNSC to release a statement condemning North Korea’s launch of short-range missiles,” said South Korean UN ambassador Oh Joon. “That indicates just how seriously the council is taking North Korea’s missile launches.”

The discussion took place at the request of the South Korean government. The government moved into action out of the belief that North Korea was taking advantage of the fact that the Security Council was not making any kind of response to its launch of short-range missiles, sources said.

The press office of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also issued a statement condemning North Korea’s missile launches, the UN said. “These launches clearly violate the resolutions of the Security Council banning the DPRK from conducting any launch using ballistic missile technology,” the statement said.

"The Secretary-General urges the DPRK instead to work towards building confidence and mutual trust with its neighbors," the statement said, promising to keep exploring “constructive ways to assist in the collective work toward peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”

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