(LEAD) S. Korea holds emergency NSC meeting on N. Korea's projectile launch

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SEOUL, March 25 (Yonhap) -- Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday that it has convened an urgent National Security Council (NSC) meeting on North Korea's latest projectile launch.

Members of the NSC's standing committee opened the "emergency" session at 9 a.m., according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.

It came after the South Korean military announced that the North lobbed at least two "unidentified projectiles" into the East Sea earlier in the day. Those are suspected to be ballistic missiles.

If confirmed, it would mark the North's first ballistic missile launch spotted by the South in about a year. The North is prohibited from engaging in launches using ballistic missile technology under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The NSC's weekly standing committee meeting is usually held on Thursday afternoon, presided over by Suh Hoon, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae.

Cheong Wa Dae, however, advanced the opening of the meeting for the day in response to the North's move, calling it an emergency occasion.

lcd@yna.co.kr
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