“As the DPRK proceeds to develop new and destabilizing weapon systems, the Security Council should be prepared to respond with further significant measures”, said the letter sent to the sanctions committee on July 28. Japan also said its self-defense force would remain on alert in case of further launches.
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North Korea just launched a couple of ballistic missiles, with one landing close to Japan.
The launches have already drawn a strong rebuke from Japan.
The North’s mid-range Rodong missile was sacked from Eunyul, near the country’s south-western tip, at 7.50am.
Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula since the January nuclear test.
After all, North Korea had pledged a “physical response” when America announced it would deploy its THAAD nuclear shield in neighbouring South Korea.
A study published by the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in the United States concluded that North Korea has between six and eight nuclear warheads.
Its last missile test was less than three weeks ago, when it launched three short-range missiles.
While Jens Stoltenberg, general secretary of the NATO alliance of which Britain is a part, demanded North Korea pack it in.
With its recent series of missile tests and blustery rhetoric, North Korea is cultivating an atmosphere of paranoia in the Pacific and prompting America to collaborate more closely with its Pacific allies. Pyongyang fired two missiles on Wednesday from South Hwanghae province, located on its western coast, with one falling into Japan’s exclusive economic zone for the first time.
A missile fired from North Korea landed in the sea off the Japanese coast, in a launch condemned as “outrageous” and a danger to peace in the region.
North Korea launched a ballistic missile, believed to be Rodong, into the Sea of Japan that fell in waters within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
“They are doing all of this with a systematic, comprehensive objective of upgrading and refining their missile technologies”, he told reporters.
North Korea is prohibited from developing ballistic missiles under existing United Nations resolutions and despite the adoption of enhanced sanctions in the form of UNSC Resolution 2270 in March, the country has continued to breach sanctions and conduct missile tests.
“The United States continues to believe that our response to North Korea’s destabilizing activities is stronger when the global community remains united”, Earnest said.
South Korean and USA military officials say North Korea carried out a ballistic missile test early Wednesday. A Rodong fired in March flew about 800 kilometers (500 miles) while two other Rodongs launched in 2014 flew about 650 kilometers (400 miles). After several failures, the North put its first satellite into space aboard a long-range rocket in December 2012, and conducted another successful satellite launch in February.
Tokyo analyzed data on the missile in cooperation with other concerned nations, of which results show that it was a Rodong type medium-range ballistic missile, which can reach Japan.
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North Korea says such drills are a provocative rehearsal for invasion, while Washington and Seoul insist they are purely defensive in nature.
