Joshua Pollack, editor of the USA -based Nonproliferation Review, noted that only six countries including the United States, Russia and China have mastered SLBM technology.
Advertisement
Wednesday’s launch came two days after the USA and South Korea began their 12-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises, prompting North Korean threats of retaliation for the military drills, which it views as an invasion rehearsal.
“We unreservedly condemn this kind of action by the DPRK”, he said, referring to the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Moscow and Beijing were essential sources of tactical, military and logistical aid for Pyongyang during the 1950-1953 conflict with South Korea, while Washington was an ally to Seoul.
The South Korean military said Wednesday’s launch, of what it presumed to be a KN-11 midrange SLBM, indicated a real advancement of the North’s ballistic missile capability.
North Korea has insisted that its nuclear weapons development is an act of nuclear deterrence for self-defense in the face of what it claims is Washington’s hostile policy toward Pyongyang.
Pyongyang’s January nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch in February resulted in the tightening of sanctions against North Korea in a new UN Security Council resolution adopted in March.
“He appreciated the test-fire as the greatest success and victory”, KCNA said.
“I do not guess what ridiculous remarks the USA and its followers will make about this test-fire, but I can say their rash acts will only precipitate their self-destruction”, the KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
The KCNA said the test-fire was conducted under a high-angle fire system using a solid fuel engine. She said the missile launch marked the latest in an “accelerating campaign” of missile tests that violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
But the 15-member Security Council, which includes the U.S., China and Russian Federation, met in July after North Korea launched three land based missiles and were unable to agree to issue an official denouncement. Malaysia’s U.N. Ambassador Ramlan Bin Ibrahim, the current council president, told reporters after the closed meeting that “there was a general sense of condemnation by most members of the council”.
Since the start of this year, North Korea has been at the center of global attention in view of its active missile testing. The secretary-general called on North Korea “to take steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue on denuclearization”, he said.
The South Korean military said earlier that North Korea fired a missile that flew 500 kilometers before falling into the waters of Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
Many outside experts say North Korea doesn’t yet have a functioning long-range nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental US, but they acknowledge that the North has been making steady progress in its weapons programs and could one day develop such a weapon.
In June, North Korea, after a string of failures, sent a midrange ballistic missile more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) high. Its longer distance puts all of South Korea within its range if it is fired near the border.
Advertisement
He warned the US and South Korea to refrain from “hurting the dignity and security of North Korea” if it wants to avoid deadly strikes.
