Countries around the world on Thursday continued to pay close attention to the missile tests by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) a day earlier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday his country is disappointed over the missile tests.

"We are disappointed over what is happening in that area," Putin said in an interactive webcast from the Kremlin.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed over phone that the missile problem of the DPRK should be resolved by diplomatic means.

The high-level contact between the two countries came after Pyongyang test-fired seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2, on Wednesday.

"President Roh and President Bush talked on the telephone between 7:50 a.m. local time (2250 GMT Wednesday) and 8 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Wednesday) and agreed to make joint diplomatic efforts to solve the missile problem," Roh's spokesman Jung Tae-ho said.

"Seoul and Washington would resolve the problem through close consultations with China, Japan and Russia," Jung said.

A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed that his country had test-fired missiles, saying they were part of routine military exercises aimed at increasing the nation's self-defense capabilities.

The DPRK would continue to test-launch missiles, the spokesman said, adding that the operations had nothing to do with the six-party talks on the Korean peninsula nuclear issue.

Considering the tests a real threat, Japan said on Thursday it would step up efforts to establish a missile defense shield with Washington.

In a diplomatic move, Japan called on Indonesia to persuade the DPRK to halt missile tests, as Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to visit Pyongyang on July 18 and 19.

Susilo has already sent his special envoy Nana Sutresna to Pyongyang in an attempt to ease tensions.

In another important development, African countries joined the chorus of global concern over the DPRK missile tests.

An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday called on all parties concerned to hold self-restraint in East Asia, saying any escalation could jeopardize peace and stability in this important area.

He urged all parties concerned to return to the six-party talks to settle the Korean peninsula nuclear issue.

The DPRK test-fired a barrage of missiles on Wednesday. At least six missiles were launched early in the morning and the seventh was fired some 12 hours later.

All of them fell on the Sea of Japan. The long-range Taepodong-2 missile apparently failed 40 seconds into its flight.

Source: Xinhua