Obama signaled the USA would redouble its effort to choke off North Korea’s access to global currency and technology by tightening loopholes in the current sanctions regime.
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Maniac dictator Kim Jong-un has warned North Korea can “attack its enemies at any time” following its latest missile launch. The move drew swift condemnation from the USA and other world leaders who will gather this month in NY for the United Nations General Assembly.
UN Security Council resolutions bar North Korea from testing nuclear weapons, as it did most recently in January, and from launching ballistic missiles. Jeffery Lewis, director of the East Asia Non-proliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies told the Guardian, “They just don’t care what the Chinese say anymore”.
China’s U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi, apparently annoyed that the latest missiles were fired during the G20, told reporters as he left the meeting that the council would work on a press statement.
Recent efforts have flown greater distances, including a submarine-launched ballistic missile on August 24 that flew about 310 miles and also landed near Japan.
The White House noted the United States remains committed to moving ahead with the planned deployment of a major anti-missile system in South Korea.
Earlier, the United States called for action to enforce Security Council resolutions on North Korea prohibiting ballistic missile-related activities.
“Looking at pictures and intelligence information it’s believed that North Korea fired Scud-ER missiles and that their accuracy has increased tremendously”. Regarding the plan to station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the peninsula, Obama stressed that “it is a purely defensive measure, stressing that Washington’s commitment to the defense of South Korea is unwavering”.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said that there were calls in favor of further measures beyond statements condemning North Korea’s actions.
“We have over many years seen North Korea try to find ways to evade sanctions, try to find ways to access foreign currency, try to find ways to access sensitive technologies using front-companies for their activities”, the US’s deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said.
A Joint Chiefs of Staff statement described the launches as an “armed protest” meant to demonstrate North Korea’s military capability on the occasion of the G-20 summit and days before the North Korean government’s 68th anniversary.
North Korea frequently conducts missile tests during high-profile events.
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Leader Kim Jong-Un described the August test as the “greatest success” and said it put the United States mainland within striking range.
