A United Nations Security Council statement Tuesday unanimously condemned North Korea for its test-firing of four ballistic missiles earlier in the week. Photo courtesy of Korea Central News Agency

March 8 (UPI) -- The United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea's recent nuclear missile test-launches, a U.N. statement said.

The statement was issued Tuesday after an emergency Security Council meeting and cited North Korea's "increasingly destabilizing behavior" in conducting the missile launches. It called the launches "a grave violation" of U.N. sanctions resolutions.


On Monday, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles eastward to the Sea of Japan from a location near its northwestern Dongchang-ri missile site. While all landed in the sea, three are believed to have landed within Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The launches coincided with the start of joint military drills between South Korea and the United States. North Korea has long denounced the annual exercises as preparation for a ground invasion.

The U.N. statement added that its member nations will continue to closely monitor North Korea's actions.

Six rounds of increasingly tougher economic sanctions have already been imposed on North Korea.