US Called North Korea Launches Missile it's Not Joke
US Called North Korea Launches Missile it's Not Joke
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PYONGYANG - North Korea's firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile over the weekend sparked sharp condemnation and concern from officials around the globe.
South Korean officials said, the missile was fired off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (5:30 a.m. ET). It appears to have flown about 30 kilometers (about 19 miles), well short of the 300 kilometers (roughly 186 miles) that would be considered a successful test.
North Korean state news agency KCNA claimed that the launch was successful and said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "guided on the spot the underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile."
"At the observation post he was briefed on the plan for the test-fire and gave an order for it," KCNA reported. "As soon as the order was issued, the submarine submerged as low as the biggest depth of waters for launching and fired the ballistic missile. The test-fire was aimed to confirm the stability of the underwater ballistic launching system in the maximum depth of waters."
Launching a missile from a submarine has always been a military priority for North Korea, CNN's reports, and if this test was successful, it would be a military victory for Pyongyang.
After previous launch attempts by Pyongyang failed, this one seems to have gone much better, one U.S. official noted.
"North Korea's sub launch capability has gone from a joke to something very serious," this official said. "The U.S. is watching this very closely."
Asked whether the test was successful, another U.S. official told CNN, "essentially yes."
U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday that the United States is still analyzing what happened.
"What is clear," he said, "is that North Korea continues to engage in continuous provocative behavior. They have been actively pursuing an nuclear program, an ability to launch nuclear weapon. Although more often than not they fail in these tests, they gain knowledge each time they engage in these tests. And we take it very seriously."
The United States was among a chorus of countries denouncing the launch, noting that it violated multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The council strongly condemned the incident in a statement Sunday.
North Korea's "development and testing of new ballistic missile capabilities, even if launches are failures, is clearly prohibited by these resolutions," the statement said.
France called for further sanctions against the reclusive nation.
The North Korean nuclear program "constitutes a serious threat to regional and international security. France once again condemns the nuclear and ballistic tests that the North Korean regime has carried out," the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We call for a firm and united reaction from the international community so that North Korea stops its provocations and abandons, in an irreversible and verifiable way, its nuclear and ballistic program."
South Korean officials said, the missile was fired off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (5:30 a.m. ET). It appears to have flown about 30 kilometers (about 19 miles), well short of the 300 kilometers (roughly 186 miles) that would be considered a successful test.
North Korean state news agency KCNA claimed that the launch was successful and said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "guided on the spot the underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile."
"At the observation post he was briefed on the plan for the test-fire and gave an order for it," KCNA reported. "As soon as the order was issued, the submarine submerged as low as the biggest depth of waters for launching and fired the ballistic missile. The test-fire was aimed to confirm the stability of the underwater ballistic launching system in the maximum depth of waters."
Launching a missile from a submarine has always been a military priority for North Korea, CNN's reports, and if this test was successful, it would be a military victory for Pyongyang.
After previous launch attempts by Pyongyang failed, this one seems to have gone much better, one U.S. official noted.
"North Korea's sub launch capability has gone from a joke to something very serious," this official said. "The U.S. is watching this very closely."
Asked whether the test was successful, another U.S. official told CNN, "essentially yes."
U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday that the United States is still analyzing what happened.
"What is clear," he said, "is that North Korea continues to engage in continuous provocative behavior. They have been actively pursuing an nuclear program, an ability to launch nuclear weapon. Although more often than not they fail in these tests, they gain knowledge each time they engage in these tests. And we take it very seriously."
The United States was among a chorus of countries denouncing the launch, noting that it violated multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The council strongly condemned the incident in a statement Sunday.
North Korea's "development and testing of new ballistic missile capabilities, even if launches are failures, is clearly prohibited by these resolutions," the statement said.
France called for further sanctions against the reclusive nation.
The North Korean nuclear program "constitutes a serious threat to regional and international security. France once again condemns the nuclear and ballistic tests that the North Korean regime has carried out," the French foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We call for a firm and united reaction from the international community so that North Korea stops its provocations and abandons, in an irreversible and verifiable way, its nuclear and ballistic program."
(rnz)
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