N. Korean leader praises missile launch
Kim claims nation now nuclear-attack equipped, U.S. within striking distance
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said early today that his country had achieved the “success of all successes” in launching a missile from a submarine, saying it essentially gave the country full nuclear-attack capability and put the U.S. mainland within striking distance.
Kim’s comments, carried by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, came a day after South Korean officials said a ballistic missile fired from a North Korean submarine was tracked flying about 310 miles, the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.
North Korea already has land-based missiles that can hit South Korea and Japan, including U.S. military bases in those countries. But its development of reliable submarine-launched missiles would add a weapon that is harder to detect before launch.
The Korean Central News Agency said Kim watched from an observation post as the test-firing happened, which the news agency said was carried out without “any adverse impact” on neighboring countries.
The North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper published several photos that showed the missile, with the name Pukguksong printed on its side, soaring into the sky, and Kim smiling and embracing one of the North Korean officials accompanying him on what appeared to be an observation deck.
The news agency quoted Kim as saying the successful test showed that North Korea had joined the “front ranks” of military powers fully equipped with nuclear-attack capabilities. Kim also said it is undeniable that the U.S. mainland and key operational areas in the Pacific were within North Korea’s striking distance.
“I do not guess what ridiculous remarks the U.S. and its followers will make about this test-fire, but I can say their rash acts will only precipitate their self-destruction,” the news agency quoted Kim as saying.
The news agency said the test was aimed at evaluating the stability of the underwater launching system, the flight features of the solid-fuel missile, the reliability of the control and guidance system, and the accuracy of the warhead in hitting targets after it re-enters the atmosphere.
Wednesday’s launch came two days after the U.S. and South Korea began their 12day Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises, prompting North Korean threats of retaliation for the military drills, which it views as an invasion rehearsal.
North Korea usually responds to regular South Korea-U.S. military drills with weapons tests and fiery warlike rhetoric.
The United Nations Security Council agreed at an emergency meeting late Wednesday requested by the United States and Japan to consider issuing a statement on the missile launch.
Malaysia’s U.N. Ambassador Ramlan Bin Ibrahim, the current council president, told reporters after the closed meeting that “there was a general sense of condemnation by most members of the council.”
He said the United States is drafting the text of a news statement “and we will have a look at it.”
Secretary-General Ban Kimoon said the missile launch, “in defiance of the united call of the international community to reverse its course, is deeply troubling,” according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
“Not only are such actions a clear violation of relevant Security Council resolutions, but they also undermine peace and stability in the Korean peninsula,” Dujarric said.
The secretary-general called on North Korea “to take steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue on denuclearization,” he said.
State Department spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a statement that the U.S. strongly condemned the launch and called on North Korea to “refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region.” She said the missile launch marked the latest in an “accelerating campaign” of missile tests that violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
“The U.S. commitment to the defense of our allies including the Republic of Korea and Japan in the face of these threats remains ironclad,” she said.
South Korea’s military condemned the launch but acknowledged that it was an improvement over previous tests of similar missiles.
“North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats are not imaginary threats any longer, but they’re now becoming real threats,” South Korean President Park Geun-hye said of the launch. “Those threats are coming closer each moment.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the launch an “impermissible and outrageous act” that poses a grave threat to Japan. The U.S. Strategic Command statement said the launch did not pose a threat to North America, but the U.S. military “remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations.”
North Korea fired two missiles from submarines earlier this year, but South Korean defense officials believe that they exploded in midair after flying less than 18 miles.
The missile, fired from a submarine off the eastern North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, reached into Japan’s air-defense identification zone, according to Seoul and Tokyo officials. Its longer distance puts all of South Korea within its range if it is fired near the border.
Missiles of such capability also could strike parts of Japan, including U.S. military bases on the island of Okinawa, considering the operational range of North Korea’s Sinpo-class submarines, said analyst Kim Dong-yub at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.
Many outside experts say North Korea doesn’t yet have a functioning long-range nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental U.S.