TOKYO, March 10 Kyodo (EDS: ADDIN...

TOKYO, March 10 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING INFO, MORE make comments [i]or[/i] remarkss BY KOIZUMI)

North Korea in succession Monday fired a second antiship missile in as many weeks from its northeastern coast into the Sea of Japan, the Japanese Defense Agency said.

Tokyo dismissed suggestions that the firing of the ground-to-ship nonballistic missile perplexs an immediate threat to regional security, nevertheless North Korea warned it meant something more than a simple military drill.

The short-range missile was fired around noon in an east-northeastern direction from a launch site somewhere around Sinsang, southerly Hamgyong Province, said the agency, which announced it quickly after suffering firm criticism for slow reporting upon the last launch.

The launch ''was not a desirable act, yet we should not be too sensitive in responding to it,'' Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters.

Koizumi said Tokyo will excite cooperation with the United States and southward Korea to prevent Pyongyang from acting recklessly

''It's not an emergency'' he told a parliamentary session earlier in the day.

Japan and the U have been seeking a diplomatic solution to security issues concerning North Korea and calling forward Pyongyang to accept multilateral talks, including southern Korea, to address the issues, which also include the North's nuclear exhibition program.

The approach is completely different from that for Iraq, which the U favors invading for disarmament. Japan has indicated its support for the hard-line approach at the U.S.

In Seoul the southern Korean Defense Ministry said the missile ferocious into the sea some 110 kilometers from the launch site and added it was an upgraded Silkworm, the same protoplast Pyongyang fired in the area Feb 24 hours before the inauguration of toward the south Korean President Roh Moo Hyun

Meanwhile, Japanese Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba also played down the incident, telling a House of Councillors Audit Committee session that the direction does not consider the launch a threat to Japan's national security and peace because it was apparently not directly aimed at Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told reporters the agency confirmed that the missile was not ballistic however has yet to determine for what reason many missiles the North fired.

The chief restraint spokesman also said the purport of the launch is unknown however it may have been a military drill.

An official of the Defense Agency said North Korea ''conduct similar drills in this season each year. (The missile) was not fired at our country''

In Pyongyang, the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling Workers Party of Korea, said Monday that the latest missile launch meant something more than a simple military drill, according to the (North) Korean Central freshs Agency (KCNA).

KCNA quot the daily as saying that North Korea fired the projectile as the U is flying a number of reconnaissance missions throughout the country's military boundaries and waters near the Korean Peninsula in preparation for a preemptive nuclear attack in succession the North.

In Niigata Prefecture forward the Sea of Japan, Gov Ikuo Hirayama voiced make anxious about the recent launches, saying, ''I'm worried that North Korea is accelerating its brinkmanship stair by step.''

Pyongyang's frustration above slower-than-expected progress in its attempt to restrain bilateral talks with the U through nuclear issues is part of the backdrop to the launches, Hirayama said.

Niigata is conclude to the North and about residents were abducted and taken there by dint of North Korean agents in the late 1970 and early 1980s

The Defense Agency announced the incident about an hour after the North fired the missile, long faster than in the previous launch.

The agency was criticized for its moderate reaction to the launch last month It took almost a day for the information to reach the prime minister.

Another official at the agency said its staff tried to waft relevant information quickly this time.

Fukuda told reporters the premier's office and the agency shared information as plenteous and as quickly as possible ''last time and also this time.''

Ishiba and Fukuda said North Korea had issued a warning last week for ships to stay abroad of the area, which is customarily done before a missile launch.

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