Missiles Show NKorea Skills Improving: Officials

South Korean conservative activists burn mock missiles and a portrait of North Korean Leader Kim...

South Korean conservative activists burn mock missiles and a portrait of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, bottom left, and what protesters say is a portrait of his son Kim Jong Un during a rally denouncing North Korea's missile launch in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, July 3, 2009. South Korea said Friday it is closely monitoring North Korean military sites because the communist nation may fire more missiles, amid speculation that a long-range test launch aimed toward the U.S. is possible in coming days.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

(AP)

South Korea and Japan both condemned the launches, with Tokyo calling them a "serious act of provocation." Britain and France issued similar statements.

Russia and China, both allies of North Korea, expressed concern over an "escalation of tension in the region," the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday in a statement after a meeting in Moscow.

Separately, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement that Beijing "hopes all parties will keep calm and restrained and jointly safeguard the overall peace and stability in this region."

The North has engaged in a series of acts this year widely seen as provocative. It fired a long-range rocket it said was a satellite in early April, and in late May it carried out its second underground nuclear test following the first in late 2006.

The country has also stoked tensions with rival South Korea and last month threatened "thousand-fold" military retaliation against the U.S. and its allies if provoked.

Yonhap also reported that the North is believed to have spent between $34 million and $46 million in test-firing the seven missiles Saturday. It cited no source.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it cannot confirm the report.

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Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim, Kwang-tae Kim and Jae-soon Chang in Seoul, Gillian Wong in Beijing, Tomoko A. Hosaka in Tokyo, Jill Lawless in London, Elaine Ganley in Paris, Mansur Mirovalev in Moscow and Lara Jakes in Washington contributed to this report.

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