North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said early today that his country had achieved the “success of all successes” in launching a missile from a submarine, saying it essentially gave the country full nuclear-attack capability and put the USA mainland within striking distance.
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North Korea already has land-based missiles that can hit South Korea and Japan, including USA military bases in those countries. After he gave the order, the submarine submerged to a firing depth and launched the missile North Korea calls “Pukguksong”.
“We’ve been emphasizing that the planned deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is our self-defensive measure to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, not directed at any other third nation”, he added, referring to China’s resistance.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said North Korea’s action “is simply not tolerated”. “Those threats are coming closer each moment”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is pictured smiling during a test-fire of strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile.
The South Korean government and experts said the launch showed technical progress in the North’s SLBM programme. So the USA dropped the statement, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.
DPRK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is North Korea’s formal name. It flew 500 kilometers (around 300 miles) towards Japan, far exceeding any previous sub-launched tests.
Encouraged by the success of Wednesday’s test, Kim has called on individuals involved in national defense science “to put increased spurs to mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles” in order to deal with the possibility of an “unpredicted total war and nuclear war with the US imperialists”.
Its 500-kilometer (310-mile) flight puts all of South Korea within its range if it is fired near the two countries’ border.
North Korea’s Wednesday morning submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test was a success, state media said on Thursday, describing it has having been carried out without “adverse impact” on neighboring countries.
The test-fire was conducted under a high-angle fire system using a solid fuel engine not to have any negative affect on the neighboring countries, the KCNA said.
North Korea’s ruler on Thursday hailed a submarine-launched missile test as “the greatest success” and said it put the US mainland within striking distance.
During Kim’s four year reign, Pyongyang has conducted 34 missile tests, more than twice as many as his father Kim Jong-il did in 17 years in office.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency cited a military source as saying Wednesday’s launch had been made at an acute angle to limit the missile’s range. The biggest concern, says Wit, is that North Korea is working to develop a working Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM. The foreign ministers of all three countries, which have been at odds over China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, condemned the North Korean missile launch.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the launch as a grave threat to security and said Japan has lodged strong protest through diplomatic channels.
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They are estimated to have cost W120 billion, which experts say would have been enough to feed the North’s entire population for two months (US$1=W1,121).
