After what North Korea claimed was the successful test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday, Pyongyang is on track to develop the capability to strike targets in the region, including Japan, by 2020, given the speed of its development, according to a website run by a US research institute.
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Top leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un has guided a successful test-firing of a strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile, media reported on Thursday.
Images show the self-proclaimed “Supreme Leader” of North Korea smiling as he is said to be watching the launch from a screen, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
South Korean officials said a ballistic missile fired from a North Korean submarine on Wednesday flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles), the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.
North Korea has conducted a spate of military technology tests this year, including a fourth nuclear test in January and numerous ballistic missile launches.
Washington also condemned the test and Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross said USA commitment to the defence of allies South Korea and Japan remained “ironclad”.
The UNSC’s former push to adopt a press statement on Pyongyang’s defiant ballistic missile launch on August 3 was thwarted by veto-wielding China’s demand to include its opposition to Seoul and Washington’s plan to deploy a high-tech missile defense system in South Korea.
The deployment of the US -made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system has been driving a wedge in efforts maintain a concerted response to North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile programs.
The South Korean government and experts have said the launch shows technical progress in the North’s SLBM programme.
North Korea has several land-based missiles with a range that puts them in reach of US bases in the region.
North Korea has conducted a number of SLBM tests – most recently in April and July – with varying degrees of success. The U.S. Strategic Command statement said the launch did not pose a threat to North America, but the U.S. military “remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations”.
“There was a general sense of condemnation by most members of the council”, Ramlan Bin Ibrahim, Malaysia’s ambassador to the United Nations and the current council president, told reporters after the closed session.
Seoul and Washington insist such joint exercises are purely defensive in nature, but Pyongyang views them as wilfully provocative.
Mass dancing demonstrations – a holiday staple in North Korea – were to be held on Kim Il Sung Square and other places around the country.
Television air time has been dominated by military footage even more than usual, with soldiers seen advancing through chest-deep mud, braving ice-covered lakes and staging fight scenes featuring taekwondo moves atop a moving train. “This was likely a KN-11 ballistic missile”, an anonymous official stated, adding that the U.S. had detected its launch from the submarine and tracked its trajectory.
Despite the price they pay in sanctions, officials sometimes cite the example of Libya, and the killing of strongman Moammar Gadhafi, as what happens to leaders who cave in to global pressure to give up their nuclear ambitions.
On Monday North Korea had warned of a preemptive strike in response to the military drills.
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Many outside experts say North Korea doesn’t yet have a functioning long-range nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental U.S.
