Defiant North Korea fires rockets, blames U.S.

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea defied international condemnation of its latest nuclear test by firing three short-range missiles off its coast on Tuesday and major powers considered tougher action against the isolated communist state.

With tension in the region high, South Korea said it would join a U.S.-led initiative to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction, something Pyongyang has warned it would consider a declaration of war.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a government source in Seoul as saying the North had test-fired one surface-to-air and one surface-to-ship missile off its east coast. The missiles had a range of about 130 km (80 miles).

Yonhap later reported that Pyongyang had fired a third short-range rocket on Tuesday.

North Korea also fired three short-range missiles on Monday and South Korean media quoted government sources as saying further missile tests were possible.

Monday's nuclear test, the North's second after one in 2006, drew sharp international condemnation and U.S. President Barack Obama said Pyongyang's nuclear arms program threatened international security.

The nuclear test raised concern about North Korea spreading its weapons to other countries and groups. The United States has accused it of trying try to sell nuclear know-how to Syria and others.

"Another risk is that the North Koreans might peddle some plutonium, or peddle some technology to terrorist groups, that would also be very, very serious," Hans Blix, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC.

Obama assured South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of Washington's unequivocal commitment to defense on the divided peninsula, where some two million troops face off.

UN RESOLUTION "WITH TEETH"

North Korea's actions took a toll on Seoul's jittery financial markets, fearing the impact of its growing belligerence in a region which accounts for a sixth of the global economy.

South Korean stocks and the won currency wobbled for a second day, with the main KOSPI share index ending the day more than 2 percent lower. The won fell almost one percent against the dollar, although many traders said the market was becoming less concerned by North Korea.

In New York, ambassadors from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Japan and South Korea met to work on resolution meant to add pressure to Pyongyang to rein in its nuclear program.

After the meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters that negotiations on a resolution "will indeed take some time."

She told CNN that Washington wanted "a strong resolution with teeth... Those teeth could take various different forms. They are economic levers, they are other levers that we might pursue."