N Korea missile test

Peace concerns for peninsula

NORTH Korea fired a ballistic missile into waters off its east coast yesterday, its second missile test in a week, which South Korea said dashed the hopes of the South’s new liberal government for peace between the neighbours.

A South Korean military official said the missile appeared to be an upgraded, extended-range version of the North’s solid-fuel submarine-launched missile.

The missile fired a week ago was liquid-fuelled, and flew further.

North Korea has defied all calls to rein in its nuclear and missile programmes, even from China, its lone major ally, saying the weapons are needed for legitimate self-defence.

The reclusive state has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the US mainland. On Saturday, it said it had developed the capability to strike the US mainland, although Western missile experts say the claim is exaggerated.

The UN Security Council was expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the latest test at the request of the US, Japan and South Korea, diplomats said yesterday.

The two missile tests in a week complicate plans by South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in to seek ways to reduce tension on the peninsula.

Moon took office 11 days ago after winning an election on a platform of a more moderate approach to the North, with which the South is still technically at war since no peace treaty was signed at the end of their 1950-1953 conflict.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the tests were “reckless and irresponsible actions throwing cold water over the hopes and desires of this new government and the international community for denuclearisation and peace on the Korean peninsula”.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the latest missile test was “a snub and a challenge to international efforts for a peaceful resolution”.

Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said the North appeared to be testing and perfecting both solid and liquid-fuelled missiles, which might help explain why the pace of its tests had increased.

“I think the team to develop liquid fuel missiles are being pitted against the solid fuel team,” Kim said. – Reuters

People at the Seoul Railway Station, South Korea, watch a TV news programme yesterday of a missile launch by North Korea. This was the country’s second missile test in a week.

PICTURE: ASSOCIATED PRESS Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting in his office in Jerusalem, yesterday.