North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised the test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile and declared it “the greatest success,” which puts the country in the “front rank” of nuclear military powers, official media reported yesterday.
North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Wednesday that flew about 500km toward Japan.
The South Korean government and experts said the launch showed technical progress in the North’s SLBM program.
“A test-fire of strategic submarine-launched ballistic missile was successfully conducted under the guidance of supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army Kim Jong-un,” the North’s official KCNA news agency said.
“He appreciated the test-fire as the greatest success and victory,” KCNA said.
“He noted with pride that the results of the test-fire proved in actuality that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] joined the front rank of the military powers fully equipped with nuclear attack capability.”
North Korea has conducted a spate of military technology tests this year, including a fourth nuclear test in January and numerous ballistic missile launches, in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions that were tightened in March.
North Korea said this year it had miniaturized a nuclear warhead to fit on a ballistic missile, but outside experts have said there is yet no firm evidence to back up that claim or show it had mastered the technology to bring a live warhead back into the atmosphere and guide it to strike a target.
North Korean state television yesterday showed video clips of the launch of a missile from underwater at dawn and photographs of Kim on the dock at a port as a large crane unloaded an object onto a submarine.
Kim is also seen jubilantly celebrating with military aides in photographs carried by the official Rodong Sinmun.
The Washington-based 38 North project said in a report that the missile was launched from the North’s sole experimental missile submarine and a satellite photograph taken on Monday showed final preparations, likely after the missile had already been loaded onto the submarine using a heavy construction crane.
The test showed the missile’s control and guidance systems, as well as the atmospheric re-entry of the warhead all met operational requirements, KCNA said.
The South Korean and US militaries said the missile was fired from near the coastal city of Sinpo, which has a submarine base.
Japan said the missile reached its air defense identification zone.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday met behind closed doors at the request of the US and Japan to discuss the launch.
Deputy Russian ambassador to the UN Petr Iliichev said the US would circulate a draft press statement.
The meeting came after the Security Council was unable to condemn a missile launch by the North earlier this month that landed near Japan because China wanted the statement to also oppose the planned deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea.
China on Wednesday said that it opposes the North’s nuclear and missile programs.
It had been angered by what it views as provocative moves by the US and South Korea on the decision to deploy an anti-missile system in South Korea.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
RSS