SEOUL - NORTH Korea launched tests on Tuesday of two more short-range missiles a day after conducting a nuclear test, news reports said, pushing the regime's confrontation with world powers further despite the threat of UN Security Council action.

Two missiles - one ground-to-air, the other ground-to-ship - with a range of about 80 miles (130 kilometres) were test-fired on Tuesday from an east coast launch pad, the Yonhap news agency and YTN television reported, citing unnamed South Korean officials.

What's next for N.Korea? What will happen at N.Korea's Yongbyon nuclear plant? North Korea has said it is restarting the facility that separates spent fuel at its Soviet-era Yongbyon plant, which was being taken apart under a six-country disarmament-for-aid deal. ... more Bomb size key to N.Korea's ambitions WASHINGTON - NORTH Korea made the world tremble on Monday. But experts say the blast's size could paradoxically offer a glimmer of comfort. ... more Test to be verified SEOUL - SOUTH Korea said on Tuesday it expects to be able to verify North Korea's second nuclear test. It can so within days by analysing air samples for radioactive material. ... more

South Korea's spy chief, Won Sei Hoon, had informed lawmakers earlier on Tuesday that North Korea appeared to be preparing to test-fire more missiles, according to Park Young Sun, a legislator who attended the closed-door session.

Pyongyang also test-fired three short-range missiles Monday in the hours after conducting an underground nuclear test in the northeast, Yonhap said.

The Security Council called Monday's underground atomic test in northeastern North Korea a 'clear violation' of a 2006 resolution banning the regime from developing its nuclear programme and has begun working on a new resolution that could mean stronger sanctions.

France called for new sanctions while the US and Japan pushed for strong action against North Korea for testing a bomb that Russian officials said compares in power to those that obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

North Korea had threatened in recent weeks to carry out a nuclear test and fire long-range missiles unless the Security Council apologised for condemning Pyongyang's April 5 launch of a rocket the US, Japan and other nations called a test of its long-range missile technology. -- AP

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