South Korea's defense minister on Thursday warned that North Korea will face deeper isolation and self-destruction if it continues to engage in provocative acts, such as the latest launching of mid-range missiles.

On Wednesday, North Korea fired off what is believed to be two Musudan intermediate-range missiles from its east coast, the fifth and sixth time that Pyongyang has launched the missiles since April.

"If North Korea continues to carry out provocations, it will face a complete isolation and self-destruction," Han said at the start of a meeting of top military commanders in Seoul.

He said that the North's move is a clear violation of relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, saying that it will face stronger sanctions if the communist country makes further provocative acts.
The defense minister presided over the meeting, attended by about 150 top-ranked military commanders in a bid to discuss the North's test-firing of two mid-range ballistic missiles and the South Korean military's countermeasures, Seoul's defense ministry said.

"The South Korean military should beef up its combat readiness in a bid to sternly respond to any North Korean provocation," Han said. Of the two missiles launched, the second one reached an altitude of about 1,000 kilometers and flew some 400 km. On Thursday, Pyongyang claimed a successful test-firing of what it called the Hwasong-10 missile.

The Musudan missile, with an estimated range of some 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers, could theoretically reach any target in Japan and fly as far as the U.S. territory of Guam.

The North's missile tests raise concerns about advances made in the North's nuclear and missile program as Pyongyang is seeking to develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting targets on the U.S. mainland.

Analysts said that North Korea's latest provocations are likely to lend support to Seoul and Washington's move to deploy a U.S. advanced missile defense system in South Korea.

The two nations are discussing the potential deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery in the country, host to about 28,500 American troops, to better counter the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

South Korea is speeding up the development of the indigenous Korea Air and Missile Defense system. A pre-emptive missile destruction system, the so-called Kill Chain, is also under development to detect and strike North Korea's missile and nuclear facilities. (Yonhap)