North Korean strategists believe that developing nuclear weapons and a reliable arsenal of long-range missiles is necessary and, in the end, a more cost-effective means of keeping Washington at bay and the ruling regime secure than maintaining a large conventional army.
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The Security Council was unable to condemn the launch of a missile by North Korea earlier this month that landed near Japan because China wanted the statement to oppose the planned deployment of a US anti-missile defense system in South Korea.
North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons development programs have brought heavy global sanctions down on its head, but it says they are justified because of the threat posed by the US and South Korea.
UNITED NATIONS Aug 24 The United Nations Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting on Wednesday at the request of the United States and Japan to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launch, diplomats said.
The launch came just two days after Seoul and Washington kicked off their joint annual war games, codenamed Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG).
North Korea on Wednesday fired a ballistic missile from a su.
The South Korean government and experts said the launch showed technical progress in the North’s SLBM program.
North Korea already has a variety of land-based missiles that can hit South Korea and Japan, including USA military bases in those countries.
The U.S. Strategic Command said it tracked the launch of the presumed KN-11 missile into the Sea of Japan.
But the North has continued to launch ballistic missiles and tensions have mounted.
Earlier this month, North Korea fired a land-launched ballistic missile directly into Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, drawing an outraged response from Tokyo. -South Korea exercises among other points of contention, The Associated Press reported. The Republic of Korea and United States Combined Forces Command have called the drills “non-provocative in nature”.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry condemned the launch and warned of more sanctions and isolation for its rival that “will only speed up its self-destruction”.
Japan and South Korea regularly condemn Pyongyang for its nuclear and missile development, but are frustrated by what they see as a lack of pressure on the country by the North’s economic lifeline China.
The British foreign office declined to confirm a successor to North Korean Ambassador Hyon Hak Bong was appointed to Pyongyang’s embassy in London, or whether Hyon was summoned to return home.
State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a statement that the USA strongly condemned the launch and called on North Korea to “refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region”.
A North Korean nuclear test in January and a series of missile launches by Pyongyang have all been carried out in violation of Security Council resolutions. Its longer distance puts all of South Korea within its range if it is fired near the border.
“This poses a grave threat to Japan’s security, and is an unforgivable act that damages regional peace and stability markedly”, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters, adding that Japan had lodged a stern protest.
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North Koreans are also quick to point out that, although their country has received military assistance in the past from the Soviet Union and China, which helped it stave off the USA during the 1950-53 Korean War, it no longer has any foreign troops based on its soil.
