Kim test-fires a ballistic missile

Action came hours after the United States warned of catastrophic consequences if Pyongyang could not be forced to stop

SEOUL // North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile yesterday in defiance of a United States push for tougher international sanctions to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

The launch, which South Korea said was a failure, came just hours after US secretary of state Rex Tillerson warned the United Nations Security Council of “catastrophic consequences” if the international community, most notably China, failed to pressure the North into abandoning its weapons programme.

Military options for dealing with the North were still “on the table”, Mr Tillerson said in his address to the UN body.

The launch raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with Washington and Pyongyang locked in an ever-tighter spiral of threat, counter-threat and escalating military preparedness. US president Donald Trump, who has warned of a “major conflict” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime, said the test was a snub to China, the North’s main ally and economic lifeline.

“North Korea disrespected the wishes of China and its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!” Mr Trump tweeted.

The US is sending a naval strike group led by an aircraft carrier to the Korean Peninsula and a missile-defence system that officials say will be operational “within days”.

North Korea recently conducted its biggest firing drill and threatened to “bury at sea” the US aircraft carrier, amid signs it could be preparing for a sixth nuclear test.

South Korea’s defence ministry said it suspected yesterday’s missile test had failed after a brief flight, while the US military’s Pacific Command confirmed the rocket did not leave North Korean territory. South Korea condemned the launch, with foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck saying that if the North continued to “play with fire”, it would “face strong punitive steps in various levels” including the UN Security Council.

Japan has lodged a “serious protest and criticism” to the North, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said after a national security council meeting.

China pushed back at Mr Tillerson’s call, at the UN Security Council, for it to do more to rein in Pyongyang, arguing that it was unrealistic to expect one country to solve the conflict.

“The use of force does not solve differences and will only lead to bigger disasters,” Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said.

His country, he said, should not be “a focal point of the problem on the peninsula” and stressed that “the key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the Chinese”. Russia joined China in appealing for a return to talks and de-escalation.

Military action was “completely unacceptable”, Russian deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov told the council, and a miscalculation could have “frightening consequences”.

But Mr Tillerson argued that diplomacy had to be backed with credible muscle.

“Diplomatic and financial levers of power will be backed up by willingness to counteract North Korean aggression with military action, if necessary,” he said. “The threat of a North Korean nuclear attack on Seoul or Tokyo is real, and it is likely only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the US mainland.”

The meeting of the UN body on Friday laid bare major differences among key powers over the way to address the North Korea crisis.

Over the past 11 years, the Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions on Pyongyang – two adopted last year – to significantly increase pressure and deny the North Korean regime the hard currency revenue needed for its military programmes.

But UN sanctions experts have repeatedly told the council the measures have had little effect because they have been poorly implemented.