© APPeople in Seoul watch a television report of North Korea's missile test on Tuesday
North Korea defended on Wednesday its recent missile firings as "ordinary military practice," as South Korea said Tuesday's volley passed above a Chinese passenger jet's route just minutes ahead of the airliner.
In its first public comment on the launches, North Korea's state media said the missiles' accuracy ensured they wouldn't affect neighboring countries. The firings began on Feb. 21 and ended on Tuesday, state media said.
South Korean and U.S. officials confirmed that North Korea fired four Scud missiles into the sea on Feb. 27 and two on Monday, as well as other short-range rockets on Tuesday. The firings of ballistic missiles breaches a United Nations test ban, but North Korea said Wednesday that the launches were a sovereign right.
Seoul's Defense Ministry said the North gave no warning for any of the tests.
It added that rockets fired on Tuesday traveled 6 miles above airspace traversed by China Southern Airlines flight CZ628, carrying 220 passengers and crew seven minutes later. The airliner was flying from Tokyo's Narita airport to Shenyang in northeastern China.
"Such North Korean provocations violate international navigation orders and pose a serious threat to civilian safety," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.
Asked about the incident at a regular briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said: "We urge all relevant parties to exercise restraint, keep calm and be discreet in words and deeds so as to avoid progressive escalation of tension."
A China Southern spokesman said the carrier doesn't comment on individual cases. He added that the carrier submits its flight plans to air traffic control authorities of countries whose airspace it flies through before takeoff and complies with rules to ensure safety.
The missile firings come as both North and South Korea are engaged in annual military exercises. On Feb. 24, the U.S. and the South began their largest annual drills, which involve computer war-games and field training.
Also Wednesday, Seoul's Unification Ministry proposed to North Korea bilateral talks to organize further reunions of families separated since the 1950-1953 Korean War, following the meeting of some hundred families in late February.
The February reunions marked the first such event in over three years. The first reunion took place in 1985 and the emotionally-charged meetings took place during upturns in bilateral relations. In late 2010, a North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean border island - killing four - put a stop to themeetings.
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