In what has become nearly routine, on Monday North Korea fired three ballistic missiles from a base in the west across the country into the Sea of Japan.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on Pyongyang’s military to bolster its nuclear capabilities after ordering the launch of three ballistic missiles.
Officials in South Korea and the USA have tried to assuage Chinese fears, insisting that the move is designed purely to counter growing missile threats from North Korea, and not to target China.
North Korea is banned by various United Nations sanctions from conducting ballistic missile tests, due to it defying multiple Security Council resolutions created to discourage its controversial investment in nuclear-related programs. While the regime’s nuclear and missile programs are a threat to the US and its allies, South Korea and Japan, Kirby said the (quote) “reckless launches by North Korea threaten civil aviation and maritime commerce in the region”.
“Looking at the fact that the three missiles have landed on nearly the same spot at nearly the same time, I think their missile technology has substantially improved”, said Japan’s Defense Minister Tomomi Inada.
The officials told the Associated Press they were consulting with allies on the proper response and planned to raise concerns at the U.N. The U.S. also plans to bring up the issue during the East Asia summit in Laos this week.
Pyongyang has conducted a fourth nuclear test and a series of missile tests this year in defiance of United Nations sanctions, prompting Seoul to announce plans to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system to counter such threats.
“All three were launched nearly simultaneously and fell around the same spot, which shows North Korea’s missile capability has been steadily improving”, Inada said, expressing serious concern.
A South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman stated that the “missile launch is a direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions, aimed at showing off its nuclear and missile capabilities during the G20 summit”.
There have been deep divisions on the council recently with China, as the North’s closest ally, increasingly resistant to issuing statements that condemn the actions.
“We have lodged a strong protest against North Korea”.
Before the firing, on the sidelines of the G-20 Monday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye criticized the North for what she called provocations that are hurting Seoul-Beijing ties.
In 2014, the North fired two Rodong medium-range missiles just as Park and Abe were meeting US President Barack Obama at the Hague to discuss responding to the North’s arms programme. Monday’s launch also fired missiles into the Japanese defense zone, again without warning.
Last month, worries about the North’s weapons programs deepened after a missile from a North Korean submarine flew about 310 miles, the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.
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The Japanese government earlier on Monday said it believed the missiles were launched at around 12:13 p.m. local time from a site on the DPRK’s west coast.
