The Hague (AFP) - Chemical weapons inspectors have found traces of precursors for the deadly VX and sarin nerve agents at an undeclared site in Syria, according to a European Union document seen Friday.

Maris Klisans, Latvia's permanent representative at the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), told fellow delegates at a closed-door meeting Thursday that the 28-country bloc had a number of "concerns" over Damascus's handling of its chemical weapons issue.

"Last but not least, the recent finding of the (OPCW) Declaration Assessment Team, showing traces of precursors of VX and sarin were found on a site where they were not supposed to be, figure high on that list," Klisans told the delegates, delivering the statement on behalf of the EU.

"The EU is particularly concerned that, due to the above, Syria may still hold chemical weapons materials or undeclared chemical weapons agents," added the statement, which was later published on the OPCW's website.

OPCW spokesman Peter Sawczak declined to give further details, saying he was bound by confidentiality on the matter.

After an August 2013 sarin attack outside Damascus that much of the international community blamed on President Bashar al-Assad's government, the regime agreed to turn over its chemical arsenal.

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An image grab from Syrian television on October 19, 2013 shows inspectors from the Organisation for …

The United States threatened military action against Damascus over the attack, but held off following the chemical disarmament agreement.

A total of 1,300 metric tonnes of chemical weapons have been removed from Syria, with the majority being destroyed aboard the US Navy ship MV Cape Ray.

The United States however on Wednesday asked the UN Security Council to set up an investigation on the use of chemical weapons in Syria following reports of chlorine gas attacks.

Britain, France and the United States have accused Assad's forces of carrying out the chlorine attacks, using barrel bombs thrown from helicopters.

The three countries argue that only the Syrian regime has helicopters, but Russia maintains there is no solid proof that Damascus is behind the attacks.

The move by the United States follows a Security Council meeting last month during which Syrian doctors gave graphic first-hand evidence of chlorine attacks.

A video of the doctors treating children after a chlorine bomb attack on the village of Sarmin in Idlib province left many council members in tears.

Said Latvian representative Klisans, delivering the statement: "The EU… stresses that those responsible for these illegal acts must be held accountable."

A South Korean man watches a TV news program showing an image published in North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper of North Korea's ballistic missile believed to have been launched from underwater, at Seoul Railway station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 9, 2015. North Korea said Saturday it has successfully test-fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in what would be the latest display of the country's advancing military capability. The letters on the screen read "The submarine-launched missile would enable the country to conduct whatever military operation it wants at sea". (AP Photo/Ahn Young-oon)

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea said Saturday that it successfully test-fired a newly developed ballistic missile from a submarine in what would be the latest display of the country's advancing military capabilities. Hours after the announcement, South Korean officials said the North fired three anti-ship cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast.

Experts in Seoul say the North's military demonstrations and hostile rhetoric are attempts at wresting concessions from the United States and South Korea, whose officials have recently talked about the possibility of holding preliminary talks with the North to test its commitment to denuclearization.

For the second straight day, North Korea said it would fire without warning at South Korean naval vessels that it claims have been violating its territorial waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea's presidential Blue House held an emergency national security council meeting to review the threat and discuss possible countermeasures.

"By raising tensions, North Korea is trying to ensure that it will be able to drive whatever future talks with the U.S. and South Korea," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor from the Seoul-based University of North Korean Studies.

South Korean officials previously had said that North Korea was developing technologies for launching ballistic missiles from underwater, although past tests were believed to have been conducted on platforms built on land or at sea and not from submarines.

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