N Korea tests new missile, Trump says ‘will handle it’
‘MOST POWERFUL WEAPON’ State media says Hwasong15 ICBM launched from new vehicle and can withstand pressure of reentering atmosphere
SEOUL/WASHINGTON: North Korea test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, in a major challenge to US President Donald Trump after he slapped fresh sanctions on Pyongyang and declared it a state sponsor of terrorism.
This was the nuclear-armed North’s first ballistic test in more than two months and an initial Pentagon assessment said the ICBM flew about 1,000 km before splashing down within Japan’s maritime Economic Exclusion Zone.
“After watching the successful launch of the new type ICBM Hwasong-15, Kim Jong Un declared with pride that now we have finally realised the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of building a rocket power,” according to a statement read by a television presenter.
State media said the missile was launched from a newly developed vehicle and that the warhead could withstand the pressure of re-entering the atmosphere.
At least one expert said its lofted trajectory suggested an actual range of 13,000 km that would bring every city in the continental United States within range.
Trump’s response was cautious and lacking in hyperboles that have characterised his earlier reactions against Pyongyang. “It is a situation that we will handle,” he said.
“Nothing changed. We have a very serious approach, but nothing changed,” he said when prodded by reporters if the launch would force him to change his strategy.
Trump had earlier threatened to respond to North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests with “fire and fury” and “totally destroy” the country, and sought to belittle its supreme leader Kim Jong-un as the “rocket man”.
However, on Tuesday he seemed somewhat distracted, perhaps with the ongoing tax-reform legislation negotiations.
North Korea’s i mmediate neighbours were less restrained, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling the test an intolerable, “violent” act and South Korean President Moon Jae-in condemning Pyongyang’s “reckless” behaviour.
The US has said while all options to deal with North Korea remain on the table, it prefers a peaceful solution.
“Diplomatic options remain viable and open, for now. The United States remains committed to finding a peaceful path to denuclearisation and to ending belligerent actions by North Korea,” US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said in a statement.
This was the North’s third successful ICBM test and David Wright, a co-director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the flight parameters pointed to a “significantly longer” range than previous launches.
“Such a missile would have more than enough range to reach Washington, and in fact any part of the continental United States,” he said. On Wednesday, North Korea's star presenter
wearing her trademark pink dress, announced the launch of the Hwasong-15
Believed to be in her early 70s, Ri first took to the air in 1971, when the state TV channel was launched. She appears whenever North Korea wants to boast of its latest achievements Despite retiring, she was recalled in 2016 to confirm that North Korea had detonated a Hydrogen bomb