Kim Jong-un has declared North Korea’s latest missile launch “the greatest success”.
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Neither KRT nor KCNA gave the date of the launch.
North Korea has conducted a spate of military technology tests this year, including a fourth nuclear test in January and numerous ballistic missile launches, in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions that were tightened in March. It flew an estimated 310 miles toward the seas around Japan, the longest distance it has yet achieved in a submarine launch.
The U.N. Security Council called for a meeting on Wednesday afternoon in NY, hours after China, South Korea and Japan condemned the launch in Tokyo.
However diplomats expected further haggling with China, Pyongyang’s main ally, over the wording.
TV screens show file footage of a similar North Korea’s ballistic missile that North Korea claimed to have launched from underwater at the Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.
The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Wednesday at the request of the United States and Japan to discuss the launch.
Pyongyang’s KCTV aired brief footage shot from different camera angles, showing the missile soaring from underwater, igniting and surging nearly vertically into the air.
“He appreciated the test-fire as the greatest success and victory”, KCNA said.
Television news broadcasts and the front pages of morning newspapers Thursday showed images of the launch, conducted in the early hours the day before.
Kim called for his nation’s scientists to work towards mounting nuclear warheads on all types of ballistic missiles and to be able to deliver them in order “to cope with the unpredicted total war and nuclear war with the U.S. imperialists”.
“I do not guess what ridiculous remarks the United States and its followers will make about this test-fire, but I can say their rash acts will only precipitate their self-destruction”, he was quoted as saying.
The North Korean leader also said it was the “nuclear blackmail of the United States that has brought about the strengthening of [North Korea’s] nuclear strike capabilities”.
But the North has continued to launch ballistic missiles and tensions have mounted.
The agency had previously quoted a military source saying if fired at the optimum angle it could cover more than 1,000 kilometers (1,100 miles) – without mentioning if it was fully fueled.
A cyclists rides past national flags flown to mark the celebration of the “Military First” holiday in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Thursday.
But the North is “on track to the capability to strike targets in the region – including Japan – by 2020”, it said.
South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that although the country’s military had predicted Pyongyang being able to deploy SLBMs for combat use in two to three years, some experts believe that Wednesday’s launch suggests that deployment could happen as early as late this year. Having that capability could significantly strengthen Pyongyang’s ability to conduct strikes on USA positions in South Korea, and possibly on US bases in Japan as well.
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The U.S. State Department also strongly condemned the missile test and urged the North “to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps towards fulfilling its commitments and global obligations”. In reality, the three nations are opposed to North Korea’s actions for widely differing and antagonist reasons.
