Daily Dispatch

North Korea rocket test has US worried

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NORTH Korea said yesterday it had successful­ly tested a new type of rocket in its latest missile launch, as analysts said it showed an unpreceden­ted range that brought US bases in the Pacific within reach.

Sunday’s launch was of a “new groundto-ground medium long-range strategic ballistic rocket” named the Hwasong-12, the official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Leader Kim Jong-Un personally oversaw the test, it said, and “hugged officials in the field of rocket research, saying that they worked hard to achieve a great thing”.

The isolated North is under multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes, which have triggered global alarm.

The missile was launched on an unusually high trajectory, with KCNA saying it flew to an altitude of 2 111.5km and travelled 787km before coming down in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

That suggests a range of 4 500km or more if flown for maximum distance, analysts said.

Aside from space launches, Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of Internatio­nal Studies in the US told reporters: “This is the longest range missile North Korea has ever tested.”

On the respected 38 North website, aerospace engineerin­g specialist John Schilling said it appeared to demonstrat­e an intermedia­te-range ballistic missile that could “reliably strike the US base at Guam” in the Pacific.

“More importantl­y,” he added, it “may represent a substantia­l advance to developing an interconti­nental ballistic missile (ICBM)”.

The North says it needs atomic weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion and has carried out two atomic tests and dozens of missile launches since the beginning of last year.

Its goal is to develop a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continenta­l United States – something President Donald Trump has vowed “won’t happen”.

Tensions between the two reached a peak recently, with Washington saying military action was an option and Pyongyang issuing threats of its own, sending fears of conflict spiralling.

Trump later appeared to hold open the door to negotiatio­ns, saying he would be “honoured” to meet Kim.

Last week the South elected a new president, Moon Jae-In, who advocates reconcilia­tion with Pyongyang and said at his inaugurati­on that he was willing “in the right circumstan­ces” to visit the North to ease tensions.

But he slammed the latest missile test as a “reckless provocatio­n” after holding an emergency meeting with national security advisers. — AFP

 ?? Picture: AFP ?? MAKING WAVES: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is delighted with progress in his country’s missile project, while the world grows increasing­ly concerned
Picture: AFP MAKING WAVES: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is delighted with progress in his country’s missile project, while the world grows increasing­ly concerned

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