N. Korea fires ‘ballistic missile’ – US, S. Korea, Japan condemn launch

This news has been read 6412 times!

SEOUL, South Korea, May 14, (Agencies): North Korea on Sunday test-launched a ballistic missile that fl ew for half an hour and reached an unusually high altitude before landing in the Sea of Japan, the South Korean, Japanese and US militaries said.

The launch, which Tokyo said could be of a new type of missile, is a direct challenge to the new South Korean president and comes as US, Japanese and European navies gather for joint war games in the Pacific. It wasn’t immediately clear what type of ballistic missile was launched, the seventh such firing this year, although the US Pacific Command said that “the flight is not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile.” Japanese officials, however, said the missile flew for about 30 minutes, traveling about 800 kms (500 miles) and reaching an altitude of 2,000 kms (1,240 miles) — a flight pattern that could indicate a new type of missile.

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the missile could have a range of 4,500 kms (about 2,800 miles) if flown on a standard, instead of a lofted, trajectory — considerably longer than Pyongyang’s current missiles.

He said Sunday’s launch may have been of a new mobile, two-stage liquid-fueled missile North Korea displayed in a huge April 15 military parade. South Korea, Japan and the US swiftly condemned the launch, which jeopardizes new South Korean leader Moon Jae-in’s willingness for dialogue with the rival North.

Expressed
“The president expressed deep regret over the fact that this reckless provocation … occurred just days after a new government was launched in South Korea,” said senior presidential secretary Yoon Young-chan.

“The president said we are leaving open the possibility of dialogue with North Korea, but we should sternly deal with a provocation to prevent North Korea from miscalculating.” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that the launch was “absolutely unacceptable” and that Japan will respond resolutely.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said he and his South Korean counterpart agreed that “dialogue for dialogue’s sake with North Korea is meaningless.” The White House took note of the missile landing close to Russia’s Pacific coast and said in a statement that North Korea has been “a flagrant menace for far too long.” The statement said Washington maintains its “ironclad commitment” to stand with its allies in the face of the serious threat posed by North Korea.

The latest “provocation” should serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against the North, it said. New South Korean President Moon Jae-In, slammed the missile test as a “reckless provocation” after holding an emergency meeting with national security advisers. Moon said Seoul strongly condemned this “grave challenge to the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the international community”, according to his spokesman Yoon Young-Chan.

Reconciliation
Moon, unlike his conservative predecessors, advocates reconciliation with Pyongyang but warned Sunday that dialogue would be possible “only if the North changes its attitude”. Moon had said in his inauguration speech that he was willing to visit Pyongyang “in the right circumstances” to ease tensions. The North itself would be willing to hold talks with the US if the conditions are right, according to Choe Son-Hui, a senior official at the North’s foreign ministry, on Saturday.

“The North is apparently trying to test Moon and see how his North Korea policy as well as policy coordination between the South and the US will take shape,” said Yang Moo-Jin, professor at the University of North Korea Studies in Seoul. The launch was also aimed at “maximising the North’s political leverage” ahead of possible negotiations with the US, as Pyongyang and Washington both recently signalled they were open to talks, he added. “The North wants to show before negotiations that their precious, powerful weapon is not something they would give up so easily,” Yang said.

Meanwhile. President Trump called for tougher sanctions against North Korea after it test-fired a ballistic missile Sunday in an apparent attempt to test the South’s new liberal president and the US. “Let this latest provocation serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea,” the White House said in a brief statement. It impacted “so close to Russian soil … the president cannot imagine that Russia is pleased”, the White House said, adding that North Korea “has been a flagrant menace for far too long”. Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, had phone conversations with his counterparts in Japan and South Korea to discuss the situation.

China, which has been under growing US pressure to help rein in the nuclear-armed North, called for restraint. “All relevant parties should exercise restraint and refrain from further aggravating tensions in the region,” the foreign ministry said. Multiple sets of UN and US sanctions against North Korea have done little to deter it from pursuing its nuclear and missile ambitions. Meanwhile, the ballistic missile fired by North Korea on Sunday did not pose a threat to Russia, landing about 500 kilometres from its border, the Russian defence ministry said after Washington suggested that Moscow would be angry.

This news has been read 6412 times!