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UN Condemns North Korea’s Missile Launches, Vows ‘Significant’ Response

The UN Security Council late on Friday condemned a series of missile launches by North Korea after failing to do so earlier this month when China had wanted a statement also to oppose the planned deployment of a USA anti-missile system in South Korea.

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The UN urged member states to redouble efforts to implement sanctions against Pyongyang, including the latest and toughest measures imposed by the council in March, reports the BBC.

Earlier this month, the 15-member council had been unable to agree on a US -drafted statement to condemn North Korea’s August 3 launch of a ballistic missile that landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters.

North Korean Foreign Ministry official Jon Min Dok said in an interview Saturday that the USA -led discussions at the U.N. were a “terrible provocation” and that the country is developing nuclear weapons because of “outrageous nuclear intimidation” by the United States.

The UN Security Council made an official statement regarding the recent missiles launches by North Korea. With the latest launch, all of South Korea and parts of Japan are brought under striking distance for Pyongyang.

North Korea test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday which flew about 500 km (300 miles) in the direction of Japan, the latest in a series of launches by the isolated nation in defiance of UN resolutions.

The 14 members of the UN Security Council, including China, have strongly condemned North Korea for test-firing ballistic missiles.

Jon spoke just before the Security Council concluded the discussions with a statement.

A proven SLBM system would take North Korea’s 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.

He said that the latest submarine-launched missile didn’t cause any harm to the security of neighboring countries.

After Pyongyang’s launch of two Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles, Kim purportedly ordered the construction of the submarine at a dinner attended by scientists and prominent figures on June 22.

While North Korea already has a number of land-based missiles capable of striking South Korea and Japan, the submarine-launched missiles are tougher to detect before launch, making them a considerably larger threat to the security of the neighbors and USA military bases located in these countries.

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