The UN Security Council today did not agree on a response to North Korea over its test-firing of three mid-range missiles during closed-door consultations but vowed to keep trying.
"The council will work on a press statement," Chinese ambassador Liu Jieyi told reporters after a bit more than an hour of discussions.
Beijing is Pyongyang's only ally and its major economic backer. But the firing of three missiles into the sea yesterday came as China was hosting a Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou.
The envoys from the United States, Japan and South Korea appeared before the press together to slam North Korea's missile program.
With each test, each violation of UN Security Council resolutions -- and there have been 22 of them so far this year -- the DPRK demonstrates further advancement of its ballistic program," US envoy Samantha Power said.
"The Security Council must remain unequivocal and united in its condemnation of these tests."
Japanese envoy Koro Bessho said that "all member states" had condemned the launches during the talks as violating UN resolutions, which bar North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology.
Pyongyang has nevertheless carried out several launches following its fourth nuclear test in January.
North Korea has been hit by five sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
The United States and Japan had requested today's consultations.
"North Korea needs to know that provocations will only invite more pressure and further deepen its isolation," US President Barack Obama said today after talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Laos.
Seoul has announced plans to deploy a US anti-missile system in the wake of the North's repeated missile launches.
South Korea's defense ministry said the latest tests were of Rodong missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers.
It said they had been fired over the Sea of Japan (East Sea) without warning, taking place as world leaders met at the G20 summit in China.
The Rodong is a scaled-up Scud variant with a maximum range of around 1,300 kilometers, bringing most of Japan within range.
Last month, North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from the northeastern port of Sinpo.
That flew 500 kilometers towards Japan, far exceeding the range of the country's previous sub-launched missiles.
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