In this undated photo distributed on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits the site of a submarine-launched missile test at an un.
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It flew an estimated 500 kilometers (310 miles) toward the seas around Japan, the longest distance it has yet achieved in a submarine launch.
An SLBM capability is advantageous for North Korea, giving Pyongyang a potential nuclear second-strike capability, or assured ability to respond to a nuclear attack on its mainland with a retaliatory strike from a submarine.
The U.S. Mission to the United Nations said a council meeting has not yet been scheduled.
North Korea has become further isolated after its fourth nuclear test in January and the launch of a long-range rocket a month later.
DPRK is the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
But the North has continued to launch ballistic missiles and tensions have mounted.
China is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with Japan and South Korea, both important members of G20, to make the summit a conference that boosts confidence, helps building consensus and guides future directions, and makes due contribution to promoting world economic development and improving global economic governance, said Wang.
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”.
It comes as South Korea and the U.S. begin annual military drills, which routinely anger Pyongyang.
Last week North Korea’s deputy ambassador to Britain, Thae Yong-Ho, defected to the South – a rare and damaging loss of diplomatic face for Pyongyang and a major PR victory for Seoul.
China said on Wednesday that it opposes the North’s nuclear and missile programmes.
The launch, which was conducted under the supervision of Kim Jong Un at around 5:30AM SKT from North Korea’s East Coast, involved a probable Pukkuksong-1 SLBM which traveled some 500km, South Korea’s Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) said on Wednesday.
North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs are a source of regional security concerns. “Those threats are coming closer each moment”.
North Korea was top of the agenda at yesterday’s trilateral meeting chaired by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and attended by his Chinese and South Korean counterparts, Mr Wang Yi and Mr Yun Byung Se. So the USA dropped the statement, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.
Many outside experts say the DPRK doesn’t yet have a functioning long-range nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental USA, but they acknowledge that it has been making steady progress in its weapons programs and could one day develop such a weapon.
North Korea has threatened to retaliate for a host of perceived insults, including joint military exercises that are held annually, US sanctions against its leader, the defection of a senior diplomat earlier this month and the USA anti-missile battery.
Ulchi Freedom involves about 80,000 USA and South Korean troops in a largely computer-simulated defence of South Korea from a fictional North Korean invasion.
About 28,500 USA troops are based in South Korea and tens of thousands of more in Japan.
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About 28,500 USA troops are based in South Korea and tens of thousands of more in Japan.
