North Korea fired two ballistic missiles Wednesday, marking the country’s latest defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
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Officials say the missile, believed to be a medium-range Rodong missile, was sacked just before 8 a.m. Wednesday from Unyul in the country’s western Hwanghae province and flew about 1,000 kilometers before landing in or close to Japanese waters.
Yes, U.S. Strategic command says that, in fact, two missiles were launched southwest of here, one of them exploding just after launch.
North Korea fired a ballistic missile around 7:50 a.m. Wednesday, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
And Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it posed a grave threat to Japan’s security, calling it an “unforgiveable act of violence”.
South Korea and the U.S. have recently announced plans to deploy a high-tech United States missile defense system in the South to counter North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
“This provocation only serves to increase the global community’s resolve to counter (North Korea’s) prohibited activities, including through implementing existing U.N. Security Council sanctions”, said Navy Cmdr.
There are almost 30,000 United States troops permanently stationed in South Korea.
The United States, South Korea, and Japan in December 2014 signed a memorandum of understanding on sharing and safeguarding classified information on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The launches “only serve to increase the global community’s resolve to counter (North Korea’s) prohibited activities, including through implementing existing U.N. Security Council sanctions”, said Anna Richey-Allen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Recently, the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, personally received sanctions over alleged human rights abuses in his country.
This was among the longest-range missile tests that North Korea has ever conducted.
The second missile landed in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), some 250km off Japan’s northern coast and within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The council in March adopted its toughest sanctions resolution to date, banning exports of coal, iron and other minerals from North Korea and imposing other restrictions, in particular in the banking sector. One of the missiles landed in waters near Japan, sparking an angry reaction and security jitters in the island nation.
Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula since the January nuclear test. North Korea is still trying to master its missile technology.
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But it failed to adopt a press statement back in July, … with China reportedly raising opposition to the draft statement in protest against the South Korea-U.S. decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system to the Korean peninsula.
