“We’ve been able to determine that they were able to put a satellite or some space device into orbit”, he noted.
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USA officials and missile defense experts have said North Korea’s latest rocket launch could trigger a buildup of United States missile defense systems in Asia.
North Korea says the satellite launch was for peaceful and scientific research purposes, but global powers fear that the launch was a part of Pyongyang’s development of its ballistic missile program.
Hyon Hak Bong was told by Britain’s Asia minister that the United Kingdom condemned the test “in the strongest terms” as it amounted to a “deliberate violation” of UN Security Council resolutions.
The launch is seen as the cover for Pyongyang’s advancement of ballistic missile technology that could be used to deliver a nuclear weapon, renewing worldwide condemnation after its fourth nuclear test a month ago.
The US, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, Britain and France, as well as the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, were swift to condemn the launch.
In an interview on CBS, Obama said he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping a few days before the launch “about the need to really tighten the noose” on North Korea and bring about a verifiable denuclearization of the peninsula. After analyzing the trajectory and the debris of the rocket, Seoul’s Defense Ministry believes North Korea managed to increase its payload weight but it does not have the technology needed for the reentry of a descending warhead into the earth’s atmosphere.
South Korean officials have resisted previous efforts to place the weapons system on their territory because THAAD’s radar systems would be able to scan territory that includes mainland China, a no-go with Beijing.
The North also ignored the worldwide community when it conducted a nuclear test at the start of the year.
The system will “contribute to a layered missile defense that would enhance the alliance’s existing missile-defense capabilities against potential North Korean (DPRK) missile threats”, Cook said.
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About 28,500 USA troops are stationed in South Korea and the two forces have very close military ties.
