North Korea reported to have launched a fifth missile

Seoul (South Korea), May 27 (ANI): The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has reportedly launched a third short-range missile from its east coast, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Wednesday, citing presidential office sources.

According to a Sky News report, this was North Korea's fifth missile launch since testing a nuclear weapon on Monday.

North Korea warned of a military response this morning after South Korea joined an anti-proliferation exercise, and said it is no longer bound by the armistice which ended the Korean War in 1953.

A military spokesman quoted by official media also said the North could no longer guarantee the safety of shipping off its west coast - suggesting a missile could be fired in that direction.

A South Korean newspaper reported US spy satellites have detected signs that North Korea has re-started its nuclear plant at Yongbyon.

The newspaper quoting intelligence sources said the satellites detected steam rising from the reprocessing facility at the nuclear plant.

North Korea had promised it would restart the reprocessing of spent fuel rods in protest at UN criticism of the launch of a long range ballistic missile in April.

In New York members of the United Nations Security Council have gone into closed meetings in an attempt to deliver a unanimous response to North Korea's continued breach of previous UN resolutions.

Ambassadors from the two countries most affected by the nuclear test, South Korea and Japan, joined ambassadors from the five permanent members of the Security Council -the United States, Britain, Russia, France and China for an hour-long meeting that sought to agree on a new resolution.

But US Ambassador Susan Rice, speaking on behalf of the group, warned it would be a long process. (ANI)