N. Korea shoot-down option a risky one
seoul — North Korea leader Kim Jong-un has promised more missile flights over Japan, insisting his nuclear-armed nation’s provocative launch was a mere “curtainraiser”, in the face of UN condemnation and US warnings of severe repercussions.
The Hwasong-12 intermediaterange missile that Pyongyang unleashed on Tuesday represented a major escalation of tensions over its weapons programmes.
In recent weeks it has threatened to send a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam, while President Donald Trump has warned of raining “fire and fury” on the North.
After the latest launch Trump said that “all options” were on the table, reviving his implied threat of pre-emptive US military action just days after congratulating himself that Kim appeared to be “starting to respect us”. The UN Security Council — which has already imposed seven sets of sanctions on Pyongyang — said in a unanimous statement the North’s “outrageous” actions “are not just a threat to the region, but to all UN member states”.
Both the North’s key ally China and Russia, which also has ties to it, backed the US-drafted declaration, but it will not immediately lead to new or tightened sanctions.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) cited Kim as saying that “more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future” were necessary.
They have violated every single uN resolution that we’ve had, and so I think something serious has to happen
Nikki Haley, US envoy to the UN
Wednesday’s statement was the first time the North has acknowledged sending a missile over Japan’s main islands.
Tuesday’s missile overflight triggered consternation in world capitals and on the ground, with sirens blaring out and text message alerts in Japan warning people to take cover.
At the Security Council emergency meeting US ambassador Nikki Haley warned that “enough is enough” and that tough action had to be taken. “It’s unacceptable,” Haley said. “They have violated every single UN Security Council resolution that we’ve had, and so I think something serious has to happen.” — tokyo — Japan is worried the United States has so far declined to arm it with a powerful new radar, arguing the decision makes the US missile defence system it plans to install much less capable of countering a growing North Korean threat, three sources said.
Japan wants to have a land-based version of the Aegis ballistic missile defence (BMD) system operational by 2023 as a new layer of defence to help counter North Korea’s missile advances.
Yet, without the new powerful radar, known as Spy-6, Japan will have to field the system with existing radar technology that has less range than a new generation of BMD interceptor missiles, the sources who have knowledge of the discussion told Reuters. That could mean that while the interceptor has enough range to strike a missile lofted high into space, the targeting radar may not be able to detect the threat until it is much closer.
Japanese officials have witnessed a demonstration of Spy-6 technology, which boosts the range of BMD radars dozens of times, but efforts to secure the equipment from their ally have come to naught.
“So far all we have got to do is smell the eel,” said one of the officials, referring to a savory fried