Duma deputy urges North Korea to repent
MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - North Korea could reestablish contact with the international community after repenting of what it has been doing, and any other ways to settle relations with this country have little chance of prompting it to stop launching missiles, says Vladimir Komoyedov, the head of the Russian State Duma defense committee.
"The DPRK should apologize and return to a peaceful existence, and the international community should help this prodigal son to return," Komoyedov told Interfax on Thursday.
North Korea's internal problems could prompt it to resort to unending "demonstrations that it is so powerful and independent," Komoyedov said.
"The DPRK has chosen the path of being the globe's irritant, and it's necessary to stop this," he said.
Komoyedov suggested that it is hardly prudent to corner North Korea by imposing more sanctions on it. "It's necessary to sit at the negotiating table and reach an agreement," he said.
A South Korean official said earlier, that North Korea had launched several short-range missiles in the direction of the East China Sea on Thursday.
Observers highlighted the fact that North Korea launched the missiles the day after the UN Security Council had passed a resolution tightening sanctions against Pyongyang, in response to the latter's nuclear test, and the launch of a satellite in violation of the Security Council's previous resolutions.