(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon). A woman uses her smartphone as a South Korean army soldier stands at Yoido Subway Station during an anti-terror drill as part of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016.
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The South Korean and USA militaries said the missile was sacked from near the North’s coastal city of Sinpo, where a submarine base is located, towards Japan. After he gave the order, the submarine submerged to a firing depth and launched the missile North Korea calls “Pukguksong”.
“The North is demonstrating a nascent capability to strike at South Korea with an SLBM, thereby complicating ballistic missile defense planning and operations”, it said.
A proven submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) system would take its nuclear strike threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a “second-strike” capability in the event of an attack on its military bases. “Those threats are coming closer each moment”.
After the closed-door meeting concluded, Japanese Deputy Ambassador Yoshifumi Okamura and Deputy U.S. Ambassador Michele Sison did not field questions nor did the American or Japanese representatives issue a joint statement.
NORTH Korea came under fire yesterday from its Asian neighbours for testing submarine-launched missiles towards Japan.
“We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and worldwide obligations”.
North Korea has test-fired almost 20 missiles since the U.N. Security Council tightened sanctions March 2 to punish it for conducting its fourth nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch earlier in the year.
“Our commitment to the defence of our allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, is ironclad”.
The Pukguksong, or Polaris, ballistic missile fired Wednesday traveled 310 miles from the eastern port city of Sinpo before crashing into the sea.
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 US during the 1950-53 Korean War, it no longer has any foreign troops based on its soil. Pyongyang also claimed the launch had no negative impact on the security of neighboring countries.
The ballistic missile flew about 500 km and fell into the waters inside Japan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ, said South Korean local media.
In June, the DPRK, after a string of failures, sent a midrange ballistic missile more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) high.
Wang said the two sides had to create a “good atmosphere” for any talks between Xi and Abe.
The US mainland and its “operational theater in the Pacific” are now within North Korea’s “striking range”, KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the missile launch “simply can not be tolerated”, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters on Wednesday that this provocation is “difficult to forgive”.
The meeting comes after the Security Council was unable to condemn a missile launch by the North earlier this month that landed near Japan because China wanted the statement to also oppose the planned deployment of a U.S. missile defence system in South Korea.
While the diplomats from Tokyo and Seoul forcefully condemned Pyongyang’s actions, Beijing’s Foreign minister Wang Yi focused on fostering broader cooperation.
The latest test came just days after North Korea threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike against South Korean and United States forces who kicked off their annual “Ulchi Freedom” military drill on Monday.
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There are about 28,000 USA troops based in South Korea, and tens of thousands more in Japan, including the US 7th Fleet and two major fighter bases that could be used as staging areas for attacks on the North if hostilities broke out.
