Seoul warns N. Korea not to miss chance to 'develop'

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in warned Thursday that North Korea was in danger of missing out on development opportunities – hours after it launched a flurry of missiles.

It was the latest in a series of provocations by Pyongyang since Moon took office last month, even though the liberal leader had pledged to restore cooperation with the South's authoritarian neighbor.

While North Korea's previous missile tests this year have broken United Nations Security Council resolutions through their use of ballistic technology – prompting new sanctions last week – Thursday's launches were suspected to have not actually broken Pyongyang’s UN commitments.

"North Korea fired several unidentified projectiles, assumed to be short-range surface-to-ship cruise missiles, this morning in the direction of the East Sea (Sea of Japan) from the vicinity of Wonsan, Gangwon Province," the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement carried by local news agency Yonhap.

JCS spokesman Army Col. Roh Jae-cheon added that the North's test appeared to be aimed at "demonstrating its anti-ship precision-strike ability in connection with joint maritime drills involving U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups".

Moon hit back later in the day by cautioning that "they will lose their opportunities for development," according to his presidential spokesman.

The South Korean leader was involved in the last inter-Korean summit of 2007 and had been tipped to restore aid to the North, which was severed under his conservative predecessor.

"The only things North Korea can gain from these provocations are economic isolation and economic difficulties," Moon apparently conceded at a National Security Council meeting.