According to the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea will also revise its military posture to address threats on a “pre-emptive basis”.
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“North Korea’s rocket launch comes at the heels of the U.N. Security Council’s approval of its toughest sanctions against the regime in two decades, and that’s no coincidence”, he said in a statement.
Under the terms of the sanctions, all North Korean cargo ships, as well as aircraft, would have to be inspected before entering and after leaving the country.
They also prohibit exports of coal, iron or iron ore that are allegedly being used to fund North Korea’s nuclear and space programmes, but not those for general economic use – a potential loophole.
On Thursday, just hours after the Security Council decision, it fired six short-range projectiles into the sea off its east coast, South Korean officials said. The commission urged the Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court over its human rights record.
In response, South Korean President Park Geun Hye in a televised speech said: “If North Korea launches a provocation, we must respond with stern punishment to clearly show the price North Korea has to pay and our determination to protect our nation”.
Kim ordered his military to “promptly” deploy the advanced artillery system, the KCNA said.
A spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, said Kim’s comments were not helpful and may have been intended for the domestic audience to boost morale in the face of the new United Nations sanctions.
On Wednesday, the UNSC unanimously adopted a new resolution punishing North Korea for its nuclear and long-range rocket tests earlier this year.
South Korea, which put its military on heightened alert, was trying to determine if the projectiles were short-range missiles or artillery fire, the South’s Defense Ministry said.
“Next week the USA and South Korea begin annual military exercises on the peninsular – this always gets a reaction from Pyongyang”.
The news, released via North Korea’s state news agency KCNA, is a sign of increasing tension between the country and the rest of the world following newly tightened sanctions imposed by the UN. “In January, the DPRK conducted its fourth nuclear test, which it claimed was a hydrogen bomb”.
North Korea had taken steps at Sohae in past months to better hide preparations for space launches and engine tests, making identifying preparations for launches using commercial satellite images more hard, 38 North said.
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The individuals included Hwang Pyong So, whose title as Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission makes him North Korea’s second most senior official, after leader Kim Jong Un.
