“Both leaders condemned North Korea’s Sept 9 nuclear test and resolved to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including by invigorating cooperation in the United Nations Security Council and in law enforcement channels on North Korea”, a statement from the White House said, according to Reuters. Pyongyang stated on Tuesday a new satellite rocket engine was tested as Kim provided guidance on the site.
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North Korea has carried out a “successful” ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, state media says.
South Korea also has agreed to deploy an advanced US missile defense system known as THAAD by next year, but the plans have been bogged down by protests at the site selected for it and opposition from its major trading partner China.
Both the USA and South Korea have agreed to counter Pyongyang’s missile tests with the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system despite China’s position regarding the system.
The report described Pyongyang’s overseas networks as “a lifeline” for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime, but that “they also represent a key point of vulnerability”.
China’s Foreign Ministry said relevant departments were investigating the Liaoning Hongxiang Group and following the provisions of a United Nations resolution that imposed tighter sanctions on North Korea in March.
That is where the country launched a rocket in February, reportedly carrying a satellite.
Kim also urged officials and researchers to round off preparations for launching satellites as soon as possible, KCNA news agency reported.
A South Korean spokesman said the new engine has improved thrust.
The report, released on Monday by the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies and the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), also uncovered that one such Chinese trading conglomerate, Liaoning Hongxiang Group, has conducted over $500 million in trade with North Korea in the past five years.
The rocket engine test, which North Korea says is for launching satellites, comes after the North conducted its biggest-ever nuclear test earlier this month, and as South Korea says it believes Pyongyang is gearing up to conduct further atomic detonations.
“We sternly warn North Korea that reckless provocations will only isolate it from the global community, and it will face more pressure”, the resolution said, adding Pyongyang must take meaningful steps to give up all nuclear-related projects.
North Korea’s nuclear test prompted a strong rebuke from the worldwide community, with South Korea saying it was “getting ready for the worst case scenario”.
Pyongyang has already boasted of its capacity to miniaturize a nuclear warhead and thus attack the American mainland, while carrying out regular tests of shorter range projectiles in recent months including submarine-launched ballistic missiles – although analysts generally feel North Korea’s present range is limited to closer targets such as the South and Japan.
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Part of the reason the situation with North Korea has been allowed to escalate over the years is that the USA and South Korea have hoped that the North Korean regime would eventually implode on its own.
