Emergency UN meeting called as North Korea fires seventh missile

NORTH KOREA has fired what appears to be the most powerful missile it has tested since US President Joe Biden took office.

Japanese and South Korean militaries said the missile, which travelled almost 500 miles before landing in the sea, was launched to avoid neighbouring territories with the aim of going undetected.

Yesterday’s test was North Korea’s seventh round of weapons launches this month.

The unusually fast pace of tests indicates its intention to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled nuclear negotiations as pandemic-related difficulties unleash further shock on an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and crippling US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called an emergency UN National Security Council meeting where he described the test as a possible “mid-range ballistic missile launch” that brought North Korea to the brink of breaking its 2018 suspension in the testing of nuclear devices and longer-range ballistic missiles.

The launch came three days after North Korea fired two shortrange ballistic missiles into the sea and in the same week that it also flight-tested a pair of purported long-range cruise missiles.

Experts say North Korea could halt its testing spree after the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics this week out of respect for China, its major ally and economic lifeline.

However, there are also expectations that North Korea could significantly up the ante in weapons demonstrations once the Winter Olympics come to an end on February 20.

North Korea has justified its testing activity as an exercise of its rights to self-defence and threatened stronger action after the Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions following two tests of a purported hypersonic missile earlier this month.