Asked about the failed launch, United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq said: “We certainly are aware of the recent reports of activity by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is alarming”.
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President Park Geun-hye said the test is an attempt to bolster internal solidarity as the DPRK faces tough worldwide sanctions imposed over its earlier nuclear test and rocket launch.
“Related officials concluded that it is a convincing sign that North Korea is preparing for its fifth nuclear test, and they are keeping close tabs on the situation”, the sources said.
In February last year, 38 North predicted that North Korea’s nuclear stockpile could grow to 20, 50 or 100 bombs within five years, from an estimated 10 to 16 weapons at that time.
Since the adoption of the new sweeping sanctions, North Korea has carried out at least two sets of ballistic missile launches that the council has condemned.
In the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, citizens in formal clothing lined up to bow deeply before huge statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, his son and the father of Kim Jong Un, and laid brightly colored flowers at the statues’ feet.
Mr Ri said that North Korea does not care about the outcome of the 2016 election in the US.
A US website that monitors sensitive sites in North Korea said Friday that it saw further signs from satellite imagery that the North was looking to produce more plutonium for nuclear weapons at its main Nyongbyon nuclear complex, north of Pyongyang.
North Korea drew criticism from major ally China on Friday after the failed launch of what analysts say was an intermediate-range ballistic missile in an embarrassing setback for leader Kim Jong-un.
North Korea is technically still at war with the United States, which has absorbed continued threats of nuclear attack from the country for years.
“Nuclear weapons will not make Pyongyang safer”. He said Washington would consider “a number of possibilities”, but said it was premature to be specific.
Resolutions on sanctions that have been repeatedly adopted by the U.N. Security Council against North Korea ban any type of launch using ballistic missile technology.
“The US military tracked the launch, and while there was quote ‘an explosion, ‘ it isn’t clear if that explosion took place in the air or on the ground”, said ABC News.
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Observers believe Kim is trying to project strength ahead of the crucial Worker’s’ Party Congress next month – where the young leader could gain even more power.
