Dialogue needed to address Korean Peninsula tension: Russian lawmaker

Dialogue and negotiations, instead of military force, are needed to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula, said a senior Russian lawmaker on Tuesday following Pyongyang's missile test.

"It is necessary to negotiate, seek agreements, maintain dialogue and refrain from provoking Pyongyang by deploying aircraft carriers near its borders," Leonid Slutsky, head of the international affairs committee of the Russian State Duma, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Earlier in the day, the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired off a ballistic missile into its eastern waters at around 9:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT).

The DPRK later claimed that it had successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, calling it a milestone in its missile development program.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that it had detected the missile launch and the parametric flight data correspond to the tactical and technical characteristics of a medium-range ballistic missile.

The missile launch did not pose a threat to Russia as it flew in the direction opposite to the Russian borders, the statement added.

UN Security Council resolutions ban the DPRK from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any other provocation.