Tokyo expressed heightened concern about the military threat as the missile flew the longest distance to date for a Musudan. Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani noted an apogee of around 1,000 kilometers for the missile.
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The launches appear to stem from Kim’s order in March for more nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
“I don’t know whether it was successful”.
North Koreans are dwarfed against giant portraits of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as they walk past an apartment building on Wednesday, June 22, 2016, in Wonsan, North Korea.
“We will analyse the materials and the level of technology used”, a Japanese ministry of defence official said after the object was delivered by truck to the ministry.
Seoul and Washington condemned the move as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was quoted as saying the tests were a “brazen and irresponsible act”.
The test came on the same day that scholars and officials from the six countries part of the stalled talks on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament – China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the USA – met informally in Beijing.
The Musudan – also known as the Hwasong-10 – has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometers (1,550 to 2,500 miles).
The frenzied tests show how desperate the North is to overcome technical problems with the missile, which was supposedly already deployed warfare-ready in 2014.
The missiles would usually be test-fired at a flatter angle to maximise their range, according to Jeffrey Lewis at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California. Kim Jong-un’s statement on Thursday suggests that the signaling value of the Musudan tests has been accomplished and, with a limited inventory of missiles remaining, Pyongyang may choose to hold off on further testing.
Except for the sixth missile, all of these launches have been considered definite failures.
The first missile launched is believed to have malfunctioned, like the previous four failed attempts.
North Korea has been under United Nations sanctions since 2006.
Kim guided the firing early Wednesday of a Musudan midrange missile from a mobile launcher, according to a North Korean state media report.
And upon tolerating it further, China also may not be able to control North Korea the way it did in past decades. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said the “provocative actions” undermine worldwide security, while the U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the launches “only serve to increase the global community’s resolve to counter the DPRK’s prohibited activities”.
North Korea, which is developing nuclear weapons, is banned by United Nations resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology.
Three failed launches in April were seen as an embarrassment for North Korea’s leadership, coming ahead of a rare ruling party congress that was meant to celebrate the country’s achievements.
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North Korea claimed Thursday it has successfully conducted test-firing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile and verified a warhead’s atmospheric re-entry capability.
