U.S. President Barack Obama said the launch is another example of North Korea’s behavior that violates previously passed U.N. Security Council resolutions.
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A protestor participates in a rally against U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s visit and the deployment of Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a U.S.missile defense system, on the Korean Peninsula, in front of the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, April 10, 2015.
“We’re beginning the consultations now in the coming days with the South Koreans and we expect that this will move in an expeditious fashion”, he said.
“The US strongly condemns today’s missile launch by the D.P.R.K., a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolutions related to the D.P.R.K. use of ballistic missile technology”.
South Korea and the United States said they would explore whether to deploy an advanced missile defense system in South Korea “at the earliest possible date”.
China has claimed THAAD can be used against it, despite repeated assurances from Washington that the system is aimed only at deterring North Korean threats.
He set forth an analysis of the recent North Korean test: the three-stage rocket successfully separated all of its three stages before placing the satellite “Kwangmyongsong-4” into orbit.
He added: “We are all focused on looking at additional economic sanctions which could be applied against North Korea”.
Abe, Obama and Park agreed on the need for a “strong and united global response to North Korea’s provocations, including through a robust UN Security Council Resolution”, according to the White House.
This week, the Senate will take action to impose new sanctions on North Korea, not only for its nuclear and missile programs, but also for its unparalleled human rights abuses and its cyber-attacks on US companies.
The North insists its space programme is purely scientific in nature but the US, South Korea and even Pyongyang’s ally China say the rocket launches are aimed at developing inter-continental ballistic missiles.
“We don’t believe it should pose any sort of concern to the Chinese”.
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THAAD would simply enhance the United States’ defensive posture against North Korea, he said.
