Summary of inter-Korean news this week

SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of inter-Korean news this week. ------------Cheong Wa Dae urges N. Korea to immediately halt illegal missile launches SEOUL -- The presidential National Security Office (NSO) demanded Monday that North Korea immediately stop its ballistic missile tests, calling them a grave violation of international sanctions. The NSO issued the call during an emergency meeting to discuss the missiles launched from the Pyongyang area over the East Sea, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing. N. Korean defector appointed head of Korea Hana Foundation for 1st time SEOUL -- The unification ministry on Monday appointed a North Korean defector to head the Korea Hana Foundation, an agency affiliated with the ministry to support the resettlement of North Korean defectors, for the first time. Kim Young-hee, 61, who previously headed the North Korea Development Institute, was named president of the foundation for a three-year term, according to the ministry. ------------S. Korea, U. S., Japan hold consultations over N. Korea's latest missile launches SEOUL -- Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan held telephone consultations Tuesday to share information and discuss responses to North Korea's latest ballistic missile launches, Seoul's foreign ministry said. On Monday, North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The North said Tuesday it test-fired a "tactical" ballistic missile the previous day to verify technological improvements to a key component of its weapons systems. ------------(END)