North Korea fired the mid-range missiles on Monday, triggering condemnation from the USA and Japan while winning praise from leader Kim Jong Un, who hailed their performance as “perfect”.
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In past years, the North’s weaponry tests were characterized by failure, including missiles exploding in mid-air or wobbling and crashing well short of presumed targets. That means “North Korea’s submarines would not have to travel very far out to sea to attack the THAAD system from behind”. It is the most sophisticated evolution of the Shahab-series of missiles. “I think their missile technology has substantially improved”, she said.
Military officials presumed all three to be intermediate-range Rodong missiles, which have a range of up to 1,300 kilometers (808 miles).
“The Rodong missile has various types of warhead”, Jeon continued, responding to suggestions the missile may have been a Scud-type. The Korean Central News Agency, the state-run news agency of the DPRK, said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un praised the launch as “the greatest success and victory”. Beijing is the North’s only major ally, but ties between the neighbours have frayed amid a string of nuclear and missile tests and what many outsiders see as other provocations in recent years.
The objective of the latest missile drill was “to reexamine the reliability such as the flight security and guided accuracy of the improved ballistic rockets deployed for action”, the KCNA report reads.
However, the president added that the USA was still open to dialogue if the government changes its course. But the test could strengthen the case in South Korea for deployment of a new US missile defence system.
People watch a TV news program showing file footage of North Korea launching missiles; in its latest provocation, Pyongyong set off three missiles during the final hours of the G20 summit meeting in neighbouring China. In response, South Korea said in July it would deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad, missile defense system from the U.S.by the end of 2017.
Pyongyang regularly engages in missile and rocket tests, especially when global attention is turned to Northeast Asia.
The missiles represented “a serious threat to Japan’s security”, the ministry said in a statement.
“Both sides will work closely together in order to keep sending out warnings against North Korea at various bilateral and multilateral levels”, the foreign ministry statement added.
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According to State Department spokesman John Kirby, the US strongly condemns the three ballistic missile launches, saying they have become far too common in recent months.
