N. Korea raises tensions with missile launch

North Korea test-fired a battery of short-range missiles yesterday in what analysts saw as a show of the reclusive state's anger at Washington and the new conservative government in Seoul.

The launch comes a day after the North expelled South Korean officials from a joint industrial complex north of the border, after Seoul told its destitute neighbour to clean up its human rights and stop dragging its feet in nuclear disarmament talks if it wants to receive aid to keep its economy afloat.

A South Korean presidential spokesman told a news briefing that the North had fired short-range missiles as part of a military exercise. Local news reports said the three were ship-to-ship missiles launched into the sea off the west coast.

"We believe the North does not want a deterioration of relations between the South and the North," spokesman Lee Dong-kwan told reporters.

In Washington, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe called for an end to the missile testing, which he said was "not constructive".

"North Korea should focus on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and deliver a complete and correct declaration of all its nuclear weapons programmes, and nuclear proliferation activities and to complete the agreed disablement," Mr Johndroe said.