US says NKorea should not 'aggravate tensions'

The United States urged North Korea on Saturday not to "aggravate tensions" as it called Pyongyang's latest missile launches "not helpful." "North Korea should refrain from actions that aggravate tensions and focus on denuclearization talks and the implementation of its commitments from the September 19, 2005 joint statement," said State Department spokesman Karl Duckworth. "This type of North Korean behavior is not helpful," he told AFP after North Korea test-fired seven missiles off its east coast earlier Saturday, according to South Korean officials. The ballistic missiles -- which the North is banned from firing under UN resolutions -- were launched between into the Sea of Japan. It was the biggest salvo of ballistic weaponry since the North fired a long-range Taepodong-2 and six smaller missiles on US Independence Day in 2006.