North Korea has test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine but it failed in its initial flight stage, South Korea’s military says.
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The THAAD anti-missile system will be used only as protection against the North’s growing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, South Korea’s Defence Ministry and the US Defence Department said.
A single missile, presumed to be a SLBM, was launched off southeastern shore off Shinpo, Hamkyung Namdo located in northern North Korea at around 11:30 am Seoul time, according to a statement from the South Korea Ministry of National Defense.
However, this changed in early 2016 when North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test and fired off a long-range missile, which many military experts viewed as Pyongyang’s attempt to test its intercontinental missile technology aimed at targeting the United States.
South Korea and the US have agreed to deploy the Thaad anti-ballistic missile system on the Korean peninsula, a move that drew immediate condemnation from China.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo that the test Saturday is “a clear challenge to UN [United Nations] Security Council resolutions”.
Japan, the USA and South Korea condemned the missile launch as a flagrant violation of United Nations sanctions.
However, the action by the US on Wednesday marked the first time Kim has been personally targeted, and also the first time that any North Korean official has been blacklisted by the US Treasury in connection with reports of rights abuses.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the sanctions against supreme leader Kim Jong Un “the worst hostility and an open declaration of war“, vowing to take “the toughest countermeasures to resolutely shatter the hostility of the United States”.
The Saturday launch is Pyonyang’s latest show of force and comes a day after Seoul and Washington’s announcement to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, a high-tech USA air defense system, in Korea to counter the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile threats.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Friday the US continues to need Chinese leadership and influence with respect to North Korea.
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The launches were the latest in a series of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests that have raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula and led to a tightening of worldwide sanctions in recent months.
