London: Strongly condemning North Korea for test-firing ballistic missiles, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has ordered Pyongyang to refrain from actions which violate the UN resolutions.
Advertisement
South Korean Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Moon Sang-gyun said North Korea “appears to have hastened its test launch efforts to advance its nuclear capabilities on orders from Kim Jong-un”.
“We once again urged the DPRK (North Korea) to comply with its global obligations, including relevant Security Council resolutions and halt these inflammatory and escalatory actions”, said Dujarric.
The South Korean defence officials said a ballistic missile was launched off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, around 5:55 a.m. local time, near Sukchon county, South Pyongan province, and flew a distance of 800 kilometers into the East Sea, also called the Sea of Japan.
On March 10, the North also fired two short-range ballistic missiles in waters off its east coast, with a subsequent declaration that it would sever all economic exchanges with South Korea.
North Korea, known for its flamboyant displays of military might, launched two medium-range missiles in a new series of provocative tests.
“Once the buttons of striking means are pushed, those means will be launched to bring a disaster and ruin to the U.S”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un instructs officials during a field guidance tripin an image from the March 18 edition of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
The North carried out its fourth nuclear test on January 6, followed a month later by a long-range rocket launch, apparently a disguised ballistic missile test.
The US and South Korea remain technically at war with the North because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce instead of a peace agreement.
The defense chief noted that the US forces in South Korea are ready to “fight tonight”, expressing his concerns over Pyongyang’s missile launch. Because the missiles use mobile launchers, it is hard to detect advance signs of launches.
The 22 people recently banned from re-entering Japan after visiting North Korea include a rocket engine expert with a doctorate from the University of Tokyo, a Japanese government source said on Saturday.
Advertisement
Also, preparations must be made to deal with further military provocations North Korea might engage in to heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Those exercises were accompanied by a threat from North Korea to launch a nuclear strike on New York City and carry out other attacks on the United States mainland as well as threatening to invade South Korea “with an ultra-precision blitzkrieg strike of the Korean style”.
