NK missile launch a test for Trump
Print Edition
NORTH Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea yesterday in an apparent test of new US President Donald Trump, who responded by pledging “100 percent” support for Washington’s key regional ally Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose country would be in range of any hostile North Korean launch, called the test “absolutely intolerable” during an impromptu press conference with Trump in Florida.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, altering an earlier military assessment, said the test was “highly likely” to have been of a modified intermediate-range Musudan missile. The Musudan has a range of 2,500-4,000 kilometers, meaning it could threaten both Japan and US bases on Guam.
The missile was launched around 7:55am from Banghyon air base in the western province of North Pyongan, and flew east toward the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s defense ministry said, adding that it fell into the water after about 500 kilometers.
“Today’s missile launch is aimed at drawing global attention to the North by boasting its nuclear and missile capabilities,” the ministry said in a statement.
“It is also believed that it was an armed provocation to test the response from the new US administration under President Trump,” it added.
It was the first such test since last October.
Trump, speaking alongside Abe, said Washington was committed to his country’s security.
“I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent,” he said, without elaborating.
Japan’s government spokesman Yoshihide Suge said in Tokyo that the test was “clearly a provocation to Japan and the region.”
North Korea is barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology. But six sets of UN sanctions since Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in 2006 have failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons.
Last year it conducted two nuclear tests and numerous missile launches in its quest to develop a nuclear weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.
South Korea’s Acting President Hwang Gyo-ahn vowed a “corresponding punishment” in response to the launch, which came on the heels of a visit to Seoul by US Defense Secretary James Mattis this month.
Mattis has warned North Korea that any nuclear attack would be met with an “effective and overwhelming” response.
Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, spoke to his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-Jin by phone and agreed to “seek all possible options” to curb future provocations by North Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull condemned the launch as a further threat to regional peace and stability and vowed to work with Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo to put pressure on Pyongyang.
The European Union noted that the test violated multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
“North Korea’s repeated disregard of its international obligations is provocative and unacceptable,” it said in a statement.
Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Pyongyang was in the “final stages” of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Trump tweeted: “It won’t happen.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
