The presidential office held an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) standing committee on Sunday and expressed deep concerns and grave regret over an apparent ballistic missile launch by North Korea.

According to the top office, the NSC standing committee convened the meeting for about an hour from 9 a.m. and was presided over by National Security Office chief Suh Hoon.

The committee received a briefing on the North's latest missile launch from Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Won In-choul.

The participants of the meeting expressed deep concerns and grave regret over the fact that North Korea launched a ballistic missile again despite joint efforts by South Korea and the United States for a diplomatic resolution of North Korean issues.

In particular, the attendees said launching a ballistic missile at a time when the world is striving to resolve the war in Ukraine is not desirable for peace on the Korean Peninsula and the world.

The top security and defense officials then urged North Korea to swiftly respond to calls for dialogue and to immediately halt acts against diplomacy and a peaceful resolution of issues.

The meeting came soon after the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that it detected the launch of what appeared to be a ballistic missile from the Sunan District in Pyongyang toward the East Sea at 7:52 a.m.