Kim Jong-un’s earlier reaction to the United Nations resolution was to order the military to get ready to launch nuclear strikes at any time.
Advertisement
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has hailed the successful test of a powerful new medium-range missile, saying it poses a direct threat to U.S. military bases in the Pacific, state media reported on June 23.
The missile’s potential 3,500-kilometre (2,180-mile) range puts much of Asia and the Pacific within reach.
An object, suspected to be half of a nose cone from a North Korean rocket launched in February, that washed up on a Japanese beach, is shown to the media at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japan June 23, 2016. -South Korean military drills, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.
BEIJING – A North Korean nuclear envoy said Thursday she was “pleased” with the North’s test-launch of two intermediate-range ballistic missiles a day earlier, calling the tests a “success”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that Beijing didn’t consider the missile launches to be an act of defiance against China, North Korea’s long-time ally with whom its relations have cooled substantially in recent years.
“The United States will do what we have done in the past, which is work with the global community, particularly our allies in South Korea and Japan”. Pyongyang, for instance, said Monday it won’t negotiate to release arrested American citizens if a former USA detainee, Kenneth Bae, doesn’t stop using what it called slanderous language about the North.
Pyongyang launched two missiles from its eastern coast into the sea on Wednesday, the second of them appeared to function with relative success, EFE news reported.
The South Korean military’s assessment of North Korea is that it has “significantly improved their Musudan missile’s engine technology”, according to a statement from the spokesperson of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Existing UN resolutions, brought in because of its continuing nuclear and conventional weapons programme, ban North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.
In addition to a flurry of missile tests, North Korea conducted its fourth test of a nuclear weapon in January. That missile, also referred to as Hwasong-10, is believed to have flown at a height of about 14-hundred kilometers and traveled a distance of four-hundred kilometers before crashing into the East Sea.
Five previous Musudan tests ended in failure. Susan Shirk, a former USA deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said Thursday that the Chinese and US sides made “very active efforts” to bring North Korea back to the gathering.
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, condemned the launches: “We find it utterly unforgivable”.
“White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Wednesday told reporters that North Korea’s actions were “provocative actions” in violation of their global obligations”.
Experts believe the North is trying to show off his ability to strike US military bases in Guam and use it as leverage in getting Washington to agree to bilateral negotiations. The definition of success in missile testing can be somewhat subjective; North Korea gets to decide the parameters it was looking to accomplish and it looks like Kim Jong-un is satisfied with the 1,000 kilometer apogee and the 400 kilometer range accomplishments.
Advertisement
“We are very happy”.
