South Korean and U.S. military officials have said the North launched what appeared to be two intermediate-range missiles dubbed Musudan on Wednesday.
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The meeting of the 15-member council was called after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un earlier in the day hailed the successful test of a powerful new medium-range Musudan missile, calling it a “great event” that significantly bolsters the North’s pre-emptive nuclear attack capability, the official KCNA news agency reported.
The Pentagon confirmed North Korea had launched two ballistic missiles, but that the projectiles do not threaten the USA mainland.
North Korea endured worldwide humiliation with five failed launches in about two months before it finally pulled off what appears to be a successful test of a powerful new midrange missile.
Power also expressed concern that North Korea is continuing tests of weapons delivery systems and is making progress in its weapons technology.
South Korea and the United States condemned the launch as an unacceptable violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The United States, NATO and Japan denounced the test, and South Korea vowed to push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang. “We can not tolerate it and have protested firmly”.
Holding an emergency meeting at the United Nations headquarters late Wednesday, all 15 members came together to discuss the latest test-firing of two mid-range missiles, one of which flew some 400 kilometers.
“To say such an act taken by North Korea shows disapproval against China is reading too much into it”, Hua said at a news conference.
Japanese officials said one of the launches ended in failure, but the other showed some signs of North Korea improving its missile technology.
Even Pyongyang’s ally, China, voted for those sanctions in March, following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test.
The first missile launched is believed to have malfunctioned, like the previous four failed attempts.
Analysts said the altitude reached in the second test was an indication that Pyongyang had made progress in fixing problems that have plagued the missile, which is believed to have the capability to reach Japan and US bases in the region.
Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, said the international community had to find a way to get Pyongyang to accept a missile test moratorium.
Susan Shirk, a former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and an organiser of the security forum in Beijing, said she did not expect the six-party talks to be resumed any time soon.
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If true, it would mean the North has mastered technology enabling it to produce a ballistic missile capable of flying across the Pacific to strike the US mainland.
