The statement confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was present for the test-fire of the medium long-range strategic ballistic missile named Hwasong-10.
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Choe Son-Hui, deputy director-general of the North American affairs bureau in North Korea’s foreign ministry, said in Beijing: “For now, we have no thoughts about taking part in talks for discussing North Korea’s denuclearisation”.
Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command, assessed that North Korea is capable of putting a nuclear warhead on the No Dong medium-range ballistic missile that can reach all of South Korea and Japan.
The US and South Korea say the first test failed but the second showed what Japan called “some capability”.
Following North Korea’s latest action, the Security Council held an emergency meeting on Wednesday in NY.
“We don’t know whether it counts as a success, but North Korea has shown some capability with IRBMs”, Gen Nakatani told reporters in Tokyo. Earlier this month, North Korea had another suspected Musudan failure, South Korean officials said. “We need to stay ahead of the threat”.
North Korea claimed on Thursday to have conducted a successful test-firing of a intermediate-range missile – an apparent reference to a missile that the South Korean military said was sacked into the sea one day earlier.
The Musudan has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometers (1,550 to 2,500 miles), the upper estimate covering United States military bases as far as Guam.
North Korea already has functioning Scud missiles with a range of 700-900 km and Rodong missiles with a range of 1,300 km, which each flew about 500-600 km during tests.
But the second, launched hours later, flew about 400km (250 miles) and reached an altitude of 1,000km, the most effective test to date.
For Kim Jong Un, a final, apparently successful launch of a missile that could be a real threat to his enemies may ease the pain of all the previous failures, especially since most of his people were unaware of them. “No other [previous] missiles fired by North Korea have ever flown that high”.
“That suggests the missile worked perfectly”.
Four failed Musudan tests earlier this year all either exploded on the mobile launch pad or shortly after take-off.
“The North Korean ballistic program is a serious threat to regional and worldwide peace and security”, he said.
It’s hard to believe that that was the objective of the test.
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, condemned the launches, saying: “We find it utterly unforgivable”. About 28,500 USA soldiers are stationed in South Korea to deter possible aggression from the DPRK; tens of thousands more are stationed in Japan.
South Korea called the missile test a clear provocation “against us”.
Following the hourlong closed meeting, council president Alexis Lamek said there was a “very large convergence of views” that the launches violate all council resolutions.
“We intend to raise our concerns at the U.N.to bolster worldwide resolve in holding [North Korea] accountable for these provocative actions”, Kirby said.
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, meanwhile, stressed the importance of strengthening US missile defense systems, including those deployed among regional allies South Korea and Japan – a strategy strongly opposed by China. “If North Korea continues testing, eventually its missileers will use the same technology in a missile that can threaten the United States”, he said.
The South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, said repeated missile and nuclear tests had set North Korea on a risky path. The regime has also pressed ahead with nuclear tests despite worldwide sanctions.
The United Nations Security Council, which in March imposed new sanctions on the North following its fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, met at the request of the United States and Japan.
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The South Korean military’s assessment of North Korea is that it has “significantly improved their Musudan missile’s engine technology”, according to a statement from the spokesperson of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
