U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, July 2, 2009. The United States said on Thursday that the missile test-fires by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are "not helpful" and are "dangerous." (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)

    WASHINGTON, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The United States said on Thursday that the missile test-fires by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are "not helpful" and are "dangerous."

    "North Korea knows exactly what it has to do ... They need to cut out these kinds of provocative actions and return to denuclearization talks," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told a routine news briefing.

    The DPRK fired four short-range missiles off its east coast early Thursday. The missiles, which appeared to be surface-to-ship ones, "were fired into the East Sea (Sea of Japan)," according to media reports from the Republic of Korea.

    Describing the reports as "intelligence information," Kelly said: "We can't confirm the reports. But the reports are nothing new. We've seen them many times in the past."

    Hours before Kelly's statement about the DPRK missile tests, a top American military commander said that the United States is ready to intercept any long-range missile from the DPRK.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, July 2, 2009.  (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)

    "The nation has a very, very credible ballistic-missile defense capability," said U.S. Air Force General Victor E. "Gene" Renuart, the Northcom commander.

    "Our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California ... give me a capability that if we really are threatened by a long-range ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) that I've got highconfidence that I could interdict that flight before it caused huge damage to any U.S. territory," said the general.

    The latest missile firing is the first military action Pyongyang has taken since the UN Security Council passed a resolution bolstering sanctions on the DPRK for its May 25 nuclear test. It is believed that the DPRK has had nine short-range missile tests since that nuclear test.