Moreover, China, Japan, and South Korea put aside the issues over territorial disputes and wartime history among the countries but instead, they unite as they show criticisms in the latest missile launch of North Korea.
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“I do not guess what ridiculous remarks the USA and its followers will make about this test-fire, but I can say their rash acts will only precipitate their self-destruction”, Kim reportedly said.
KCNA continued: “He noted with pride that the results of the test-fire proved in actuality that the DPRK joined the front rank of the military powers fully equipped with nuclear attack capability”.
DPRK, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is North Korea’s formal name.
The North has even threatened to turn the US and South Korean armies into a “heap of ashes” after they were spotted performing joint military exercises. It said the North had mastered SLBM technology “in a short span of time”, and through the successful launch the country demonstrated “inexhaustible muscle”.
Kim is also seen jubilantly celebrating with military aides in photographs carried by the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
In a series of still images Kim and North Korean military officers are shown seeing how the weapon is being loaded aboard what is presumably a Gorae-class submarine. One of the seven photos shows Kim using binoculars to view the missile taking-off.
Wednesday’s launch came two days after the US and South Korea began their 12-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises, prompting North Korean threats of retaliation for the military drills, which it views as an invasion rehearsal.
The KCNA report did not give the date of the missile launch, as it customarily omits references to the time and location of the leader’s activities. It has since carried out what is widely believed to have been its fourth nuclear test. The success of this launch is likely to accelerate that timetable, but does not mean that North Korea will be able to deploy the missile immediately. “There is a high likelihood that North Korea will make additional provocations to heighten military tension in this region”. The KCNA reported that the test was conducted “under a high-angle fire system in the maximum launching depth”, which it said “reconfirmed the stability of the underwater ballistic launching system”.
It was speculated that the North used a higher angle to shorten the missile’s range and not provoke Japan. 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.
“We are strengthening the capacity of Korean Air and Missile Defense through preparations to introduce a ballistic missile warning system”, said an official from South Korea’s Defense Ministry. Such missiles have to leave the earth’s atmosphere and re-enter it.
The UN met last night but is yet to publicly condemned the launch, which is effectively a test of Pyongyang’s nuclear strike capability.
But the council did not announce any statement after the meeting.
Deputy Russian UN Ambassador Petr Iliichev said the United States would circulate a draft press statement.
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China, Russia and others expressed hope when it was adopted that the sanctions would lead to the immediate resumption of six-party talks aimed at the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
