North Korea yesterday said it successfully test-fired a new type of medium-to-long-range ballistic missile on Sunday, claiming advances in a weapons program it is pursuing in violation of UN resolutions.
North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the test of the Pukguksong-2, a new type of strategic weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
The US, Japan and South Korea requested urgent UN Security Council consultations on the test.
Photo: AFP / KCNA VIA KN
Japan said further sanctions against North Korea could be discussed at the UN, and called on China to take a “constructive” role in responding.
“We have asked China via various levels to take constructive actions as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and we will continue to work on it,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
However, China said that the root cause of North Korean missile launches is friction with the US and South Korea.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) said that China opposed the launch, which violated UN Security Council resolutions that call for an end to North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
“The root cause of the [North Korea] nuclear missile issue is its differences with the US and South Korea,” Geng told reporters at a regular briefing.
Geng said China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been “completely and comprehensively” implementing security council resolutions on the nuclear issue.
Beijing “has been striving for a settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue by proactively engaging in mediation and promoting peace talks,’’ he said.
Geng urged all sides to refrain from provocative action and said China would continue participating in security council discussions in a constructive and responsible way, adding that China has long been encouraging Seoul and Washington to have a dialogue with North Korea.
Kim said in his New Year’s Day speech that North Korea was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and state media have said such a launch could come at any time.
A fully developed ICBM could threaten the continental US, which is about 9,000km from North Korea.
The missile fired on Sunday was launched at a high angle in consideration of the safety of neighboring countries, KCNA news agency said.
A South Korean military source on Sunday said it reached an altitude of 550km.
It flew about 500km toward Japan, landing off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.
The missile was propelled by a solid fuel engine and was an upgraded, extended-range version of its submarine-launched ballistic missile that was tested successfully in August last year, KCNA said.
The South Korean military said the missile had been launched using a “cold-eject” system, whereby it is initially lifted by compressed gas before flying under the power of its rocket, a system used for submarine-launched missiles.
North Korea’s pursuit of large solid-fueled missiles is “a very concerning development,” said Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “Large solid-fuel motors are difficult to make work correctly so this is indeed a significant advance by North Korea.”
In addition to launching more quickly, solid-fuel engines also boost the power and range of ballistic rockets.
The North’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed pictures of a missile fired from a mobile launch vehicle, with a flame appearing only after it had risen clear of the vehicle.
Additional reporting by AP
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