UNITED NATIONS, May 20 (UPI) -- There's a risk that the short-range missile tests by North Korea will escalate tensions in the region, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
Ban expressed concern over North Korea's actions, which came despite repeated calls for restraint from the international community.
Ban, in a statement issued through his spokesman, said he was concerned about recent missile activity "particularly given the risks of miscalculation and dangerous escalation."
The South Korean government confirmed Monday that North Korea had launched short-range missiles every day since Saturday. Monday's launch of a surface-to-surface missile was the fifth, the Yonhap news agency reports.
"It appears that the North is trying to renew military tensions on the Korean Peninsula," a South Korean defense official told Yonhap on condition of anonymity.
North Korea sparked criticism with a long-range rocket launch last year and an underground nuclear test in February.
Yonhap said Monday's missile was fired from a mobile launcher on the east coast. It traveled around 75 miles northeast before falling into the Sea of Japan.
