A day after the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on North Korea’s two missile tests, it adopted a press statement condemning Pyongyang’s continuous violations of its obligations to the worldwide community.
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Without specifying Guam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday claimed that his missiles can reach the island should he decide to attack American soil.
That ability would back up years of threats and boasts from North Korea and has always been a worry for the United States and its allies, Tokyo and Seoul.
Experts say the apparent success marked a significant step forward for a weapons program that ultimately aspires to develop a proven nuclear strike capability against the USA mainland.
Writing on the US-Korea Institute’s website 38 North, aerospace engineer John Schilling said testing 6 Musudans in quick succession until one of them finally worked suggested the North’s main target was a propaganda victory.
The missile, which is fired from mobile launchers, has a design range of more than 3,000 km (1,860 miles), meaning all of Japan and the USA territory of Guam are potentially within reach.
After a string of 4 failed launches in previous months, North Korea tested two Musudans just hours apart on Wednesday.
KCNA said the missile had been fired at a high angle to simulate its full range, and had reached a maximum height of more than 1,400km. “The real provocation is coming from the United States”.
At the same time South Korea and the United States condemned the launch as an unacceptable violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. But Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said the second launch demonstrated a “certain level of capability”, and could lead to a further strengthening of North Korea’s ballistic missile capabilities that can cover Japanese territory. On June 22, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that the test’s success could not be determined.
“The members of the Security Council further regretted that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is diverting resources to the pursuit of ballistic missiles while Democratic People’s Republic of Korea citizens have great unmet needs”, the New York-based body said in a statement released local time. “It seems like (North Korea) may need additional test launches down the road”.
The North has publicly displayed an ICBM, called the KN-08, which uses the same engine technology as the Musudan but has never been test-fired.
Ernest said the missiles were tracked over the East Sea, where they fell. However, Jeon said it would not be meaningful to discuss whether it was a success because it was not a normal flight.
On Wednesday, the USA condemned the launch and initially downplayed Kim’s claim of success.
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The Musudan is a liquid-fueled, nuclear-capable missile fired from a mobile launch vehicle, making it hard to find and destroy. The name “Musudan” was not chosen by North Korea but rather derives from the fact that the missile was in Musudan Village in North Korea’s North Hamgyong Province when it was first detected by an American spy satellite.
