It also urged Pyongyang to comply with five United Nations resolutions imposed since the country’s first nuclear test in 2006.
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“South Korea alliance, and through the cooperation of the worldwide community and United Nations member states who participated in the war we will continue to strengthen pressure and sanctions against North Korea, and make [the North] realize that it can not sustain its regime unless it puts down its nuclear weapons”, Park said. The missiles are believed to have fallen into the Sea of Japan.
“A solid security stance is to be built on the foundation of the U.S”.
North Korea has conducted a string of failed missile launches this year which, coming hot on the heels of its fourth nuclear test in January, have escalated global tensions. “Based on the simulation data, when the Musudan missile [that North Korea fired on June 22] left and then reentered the earth’s atmosphere, it had a maximum falling velocity between Mach 15 and 17”, the military official said. When reporters covering South Korea’s Defense Ministry asked Defense Minister Han Min-koo during a luncheon whether the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) anti-ballistic missile system could shoot down a Musudan missile, Han said, “That’s something we will need to confirm”. “The latest successful test of the mid-range missile showed that we have the capacity to wage nuclear strikes against enemies in a pre-emptive manner”. Pyongyang is seeking to develop a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting targets on the USA mainland.
Nato is also calling North Korea to fully comply with its obligations under global law, not to threaten with or conduct any launches using ballistic missile technology.
“These and other North Korean missile launches are violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions that expressly prohibit North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology”, Cook said at a regular press briefing. The defense officials noted that North Korea’s provocations would only strengthen the resolve of the global community, he added.
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“The United States reaffirms its ironclad alliance commitment to defend the Republic of Korea and Japan”.
