Tyrant Kim fires ballistic missile in defiance of US
NORTH Korean dictator Kim Jong-un yesterday defied Donald Trump by firing off another ballistic missile on the eve of a tense US-China summit.
The missile was launched from a submarine base and flew about 40 miles to an altitude of 117 miles before crashing into the Sea of Japan.
President Trump will today hold talks at his Florida estate with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Tackling North Korea will be high on the agenda.
At the weekend Mr Trump put pressure on China, North Korea’s main ally, to rein in the rogue state’s nuclear threat.
Mr Trump said: “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.”
Last month North Korea fired four missiles, with three landing just 190 miles from the Japanese coast.
Since January 2016 it has carried out two nuclear weapons tests and is thought to be on a crusade to develop ballistic missiles that can hit America with nuclear warheads.
The US military’s Pacific Command said yesterday’s firing involved a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: “The US has spoken enough about North Korea.”
A South Korean official said: “The launch took place possibly in consideration of the US-China summit, while at the same time it was to check its missile capability.”
North Korea – branded part of the “Axis of Evil” by former US President George W Bush – is banned from any ballistic missile or nuclear tests by the United Nations.
However, it continues to ignore UN resolutions, leading to strained relations with ally China.
On Tuesday, US politicians backed a bill that renames North Korea as a state sponsor of terror.
Pyongyang threatened to retaliate to any new sanctions and accused the US of pushing it “to the brink of war”.