North Korea on Friday launched a new ballistic missile which flew some 800 km before falling into the sea, followed by another missile which may have exploded mid-air, South Korean military officials said.
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The launch comes amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula with the North remaining defiant in the face of the U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed earlier in the month in response to a nuclear test conducted in January.
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe condemned the launch and said his government would work with the US and South Korea to coordinate a response.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the missile was likely a medium-range Rodong-missile.
A man watches a TV screen showing a file footage of the missile launch conducted by North Korea, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 18, 2016.
The launch came as North Korea condemned ongoing annual South Korean-U.S. military drills that it sees as an invasion rehearsal.
The United Nations Security Council strongly condemned North Korea’s most recent launch of ballistic missiles. He added that the U.S. would continue to “coordinate closely” with South Korea and Japan.
The North says it needs nuclear weapons to cope with what it calls U.S. military threats.
A US official confirmed the missile launches to CNN.
“In order to cooperate on the process of implementing United Nations resolutions, we proposed holding a three-way consultation among South Korea, the USA and China”, Kim told a group of South Korean correspondents in Beijing.
The U.N. Security Council’s statement also called on Pyongyang to “refrain from further actions” and “comply fully with its obligations” under past resolutions.
Such a long range missile test could be seen as provocative by Japan, as it makes North more capable of hitting most of Japan.
Jeff Kingston, a professor of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo, Japan, said the test firing was “clearly” a “defiant gesture by Pyongyang”.
Elsewhere, after analyzing satellite imagery from Pyongyang’s main testing site, a USA think tank said that North Korea could carry out another nuclear test at any time.
However on January 6, North Korea launched a nuclear test, which has led to criticisms from overseas. South Korean markets shrugged off the latest launches, with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closing at a yearly high Friday, and the Korean won climbing to its highest level against the U.S. dollar this year.
The UN Security Council responded earlier this month by imposing its toughest sanctions on North Korea to date.
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China’s proposal of pursuing peace treaty talks with North Korea in tandem with denuclearization was one of topics during the talks between Kim and Wu, according to the senior diplomat.
