N Korea tests ballistic missile
US response shows resolve to avoid escalation
SEOUL/WASHINGTON: North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea early yesterday, the first such test since US President Donald Trump was elected, and his administration indicated that Washington would have a calibrated response to avoid escalating tensions.
The test was of an intermediate-range Musudan-class missile that landed in the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s military, not an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), which the North has said it could test at any time.
The launch marks the first test of Trump’s vow to get tough on an isolated North Korean regime that last year tested nuclear devices and ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate in violation of UN resolutions.
A US official said the Trump administration had been expecting a North Korean “provocation” soon after taking office, and would consider a full range of options in response, but these would be calibrated to show US resolve while avoiding escalation.
The new administration was also likely to step up pressure on China to rein in North Korea, reflecting Trump’s previously stated view that Beijing had not done enough on this front, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“This was no surprise,” the official said. “The North Korean leader likes to draw attention at times like this.”
The latest test comes a day after Trump held a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and also follows Trump’s phone call last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I just want everybody to understand, and fully know, that the USA is behind Japan, our great ally, 100%,” Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, speaking alongside Abe. He made no further comments.
Abe called the launch “absolutely intolerable” and said North Korea must comply with UN Security Council resolutions.
China is North Korea’s main ally but has been frustrated by Pyongyang’s repeated provocations, although it bristles at pressure from Washington and Seoul to curb the North and its young leader, Kim Jong-un.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump and his aides are likely to weigh a series of possible responses, including new US sanctions to tighten financial controls, an increase in naval and air assets in and around the Korean peninsula, and accelerated installation of new missile defence systems in South Korea, the administration official said.
But the official said that given that the missile was believed not to have been an ICBM and that Pyongyang had not carried out a new nuclear explosion, any response would seek to avoid ratcheting up tensions.
Trump has pledged a more assertive approach to North Korea but given no clear sign of how his policy would differ from Obama’s so-called strategic patience.
In January, Trump tweeted “It won’t happen!” after Kim said the North was close to testing an ICBM, but his aides never explained how he would do so.
The missile was launched from an area called Panghyon in North Korea’s western region and flew about 500km, the South’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
“Our assessment is that it is part of a show of force in response to the new US administration’s hardline position against the North,” the office said in a statement.
A South Korean military source said the missile reached an altitude of about 550km.
The North attempted eight Musudan launches last year. Only one of those launches – of a missile that flew 400km in June – was considered a success by officials and experts in South Korea and the US.
THE LAUNCH MARKS THE FIRST TEST OF TRUMP’S VOW TO GET TOUGH ON AN ISOLATED NORTH KOREAN REGIME THAT LAST YEAR TESTED NUCLEAR DEVICES AND BALLISTIC MISSILES