“We have the sure capability to attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theatre”, said Kim, according to North Korean state media agency KCNA.
Advertisement
Pyongyang is dedicated to developing a missile capable of a direct strike on United States military base in Guam Even after several previous launches of the Musudan missile had failed, North Korea launched two more missiles on June 22, showing how dedicated it is to achieving a successful launch.
Kim Jong-un has boasted of North Korea’s “sure capability” to strike U.S. targets in the Pacific after his military carried out an apparently successful test of its Musudan medium-range missile.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, described the ballistic missile launches as a “brazen and irresponsible act” in defiance of security council resolutions banning North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.
Kim has said it is essential for North Korea to strengthen its pre-emptive nuclear attack abilities to deal with U.S. threats and continue the development of strategic weapons systems.
The South Korean military, however, did not call Pyongyang’s latest Musudan launch a success, though it acknowledged the North has made technical progress.
US, South Korea and Japan have condemned these latest launches, while China has urged the parties for dialogue.
The missile tests came amid heightened tensions over the North’s refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions, despite worldwide condemnation and harsh United Nations sanctions imposed after a fourth atomic test in January.
First unveiled as an indigenous missile at a military parade in Pyongyang in October 2010, the Musudan has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres.
The lower estimate covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include United States military bases on Guam.
The DPRK test-fired a second missile at about 8:05 a.m. Seoul time (2305 GMT Tuesday), which flew about 400 km.
The first test is said to have failed but the second travelled around 250 miles and reached an altitude of 620 miles. Susan Shirk, a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said Thursday that the Chinese and USA sides made “very active efforts” to bring North Korea back to the gathering. Pyongyang, for instance, said Monday it won’t negotiate to release arrested American citizens if a former USA detainee, Kenneth Bae, doesn’t stop using what it called slanderous language about the North. Experts said North Korea deliberately raised the angle of the launch to avoid hitting any territory of Japan.
North Korea is banned from using any type of ballistic missile technology, but has regularly fired short-range rockets from its eastern coast.
Before April’s launches, North Korea had never flight-tested a Musudan missile, although one was displayed during a military parade in 2010 in Pyongyang. This sparked a scenario that North Korea had deliberately reduced the range of the missile so that it will not fly into Japanese territory.
Advertisement
Kim Jong-un’s Thursday statement also helps explain why we’ve seen a particularly unusual spate of Musudan testing this spring.
