UN head blasts N. Korea missile test
PY O N G Y A N G , Ko r e a , Democratic People’s Republic Of — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch Monday ahead of an urgent meeting of the Security Council.
Guterres called the launch “a further troubling violation of Security Council resolutions” and urged North Korea to comply with its international obligations, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
“The secretary-general appeals to the international community to continue to address this situation in a united manner,” Haq said.
The U.S., Japan and South Korea have requested the urgent council meeting. Seoul condemned what it called “serious military and security threats” and predicted more such tests.
The Security Council scheduled closed consultations on North Korea late Monday afternoon.
The banned missile test, which was conducted early Sunday, is seen as an implicit challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump.
North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un was at the site to observe the launch and expressed pleasure at the North’s expansion of its strategic strike capabilities.
“These are serious military and security threats,” Jeong Joon-hee, spokesman at the Ministry of Unification, told reporters. “Pyongyang has no intention of backing away from its goal to become a country with nuclear weapons.”
The missile is believed to have flown about 500 km before splashing down into the ocean in international waters.
A North Korean report said the test proved “the reliability and security” of a new mobile launching system, the solid fuel that was used and the guidance and control features of the ballistic missile. Solid fuel can give missiles longer range and make detecting them before launch more difficult because they can be readied faster than liquid fuel missiles.
The report also said the test verified control and guidance capabilities and said the missile can be “tipped with a nuclear warhead.”
It suggested the launch conducted in a “lofted” style, which puts the missile into a high trajectory rather than a lower one that gives it more range, in order take “the security of the neighbouring countries into consideration.”