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March 29, 2024

NK provokes again, Moon says dialogue ‘not possible’

PUBLISHED : September 15, 2017 - 17:36

UPDATED : September 15, 2017 - 17:36

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[THE INVESTOR] North Korea fired yet another missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean, South Korean and Japanese officials said on Sept. 15, in a clear show of defiance against international sanctions and pressure.
 
The launch, which came days after the UN adopted a set of tougher sanctions against the North, put millions in Japan into “duck and cover,” escalating a sense of crisis in the region over the wayward regime’s relentless pursuit of missile and nuclear capabilities.



 
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missile was launched at around 6:57 a.m. Friday from the vicinity of Sunan in Pyongyang.

It traveled an estimated 3,700 kilometers, the longest for a North Korean missile ever tested. It reached a maximum height of 770 kilometers. 

Given the trajectory and apogee, the projectile appears to have been fired at a normal angle, Seoul officials said. 

This means that the Pacific island of Guam, an important US military outpost, is well within its range. The distance from Pyongyang and Gaum is about 3,350 kilometers. 

Officials and experts here presumed the projectile to be the intermediate-range Hwasong-12, with which Pyongyang last month threatened to attack Gaum. Pyongyang fired a Hwasong-12 on Aug. 27, which also flew over Japan. The earlier launch had a flight distance of 2,700 kilometers and a maximum altitude of 550 kilometers. 

The US said it appears to be an IRBM, while Japan did not rule out the possibility of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The North in July test-fired two missiles that it claimed to be its first ICBMs. On Sept. 3, the Kim Jong-un regime conducted its sixth and largest nuclear weapons test. 

Hours after the launch, Pyongyang warned of even “stronger” actions against the US.

“If the US continues to walk on the current course, we will take stronger actions for our self-defense,” Rodong Sinmun, a mouthpiece of the ruling party, said in a commentary.

“The US should face up to a grim reality and make a decision to give up its hostile policy toward Pyongyang. It should make a wise decision to detach itself from issues on the Korean Peninsula,” it added.

South Korea responded to the provocation with its own missile launches, while President Moon Jae-in issued a strong message of condemnation at the National Security Council. 

The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency closed-door meeting to be held Friday afternoon in New York. US President Donald Trump has not commented yet. 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strongly denounced the missile launch, which came a day after the communist regime threatened to “sink” it with nuclear weapons. 

“North Korea should understand that there will be no bright future if it continues to follow the path like this,” Abe told reporters shortly after returning from his trip to India.

In Seoul, President Moon said dialogue is impossible, if the North continues to act this way. He also ordered the beefing up of Seoul’s military preparedness against the North, in particular new types of threats such as electromagnetic pulse weapons and biological threats.  

“Flouting the international community’s condemnations and warnings and the UN Security Council resolution, North Korea again fired a ballistic missile,” Moon said. “I sternly condemn and express anger at this series of provocations by the North.”

The Seoul government, however, said its plan, unveiled a day earlier, for an $8 million aid package for infants and pregnant women in the North, will not be affected by the latest provocation. 

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held talks over the phone with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, discussing countermeasures.

By Lee Sun-young/The Korea Herald (milaya@heraldcorp.com)

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