North Korea fires 4 banned missiles into ocean

The UN has barred North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology since it first conducted a nuclear test in 2006.

North Korea has repeatedly said its space programme is peaceful but it is believed to be developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could strike the US. The issue has prompted US national security officials to consider mounting pre-emptive strikes on North Korean launch sites to thwart the program, the New York Times reported Saturday.

The launches came ahead of a trip by new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to the region. The missiles flew eastward some 1,000 km on average, and three out of the four fell into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. At least three of these missiles landed a few hundred miles off the Japanese coast, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe placed his country on its highest level of alert.

The experts said North Korea was flouting sanctions by trading in prohibited weapons and other goods and using evasion techniques “that are increasing in scale, scope and sophistication”. “And if they don’t solve the problem, we should make trade very hard for China”.

Following the launch, South Korea’s national security council was set to meet.

It said South Korea and the United States were analyzing flight data to ascertain further details.

North Korea said in its first statement since launching missiles on Monday the tests were part of training for potential strikes against USA bases in Japan.

The USA has yet to make an official response on Pyongyang’s latest test.

It was not clear the exact type of missile fired, but the tests will be viewed as a provocation by the Trump administration, which is working on its policy for North Korea. Pyongyang has called the drills a prelude to an invasion. He said he wants clarity on what has been done and under what authorities, and what the US posture toward North Korea will be in the months ahead. Pyongyang has described the joint exercise as preparations for war with the North and threatened “strong retaliatory measures”.

“This is a way for North Korea to demonstrate that they will not be pushed around”, he said. Therefore, the ballistic missile testing and alleged coded messages sent by North Korea will likely be taken very seriously.

The North Korean government has not commented on the missile tests. National Security Council chief Kim Kwan-jin also spoke with his US counterpart H.R. McMaster on the phone to beef up cooperation in pressuring the North. Song Ji-sun, Arirang News.

As innocent people starve in gulags, Kim Jong-un allows tightly controlled press trips to show a version of North Korea most citizens wouldn’t even recognise. But Beijing is increasingly fed up with North Korea’s antics and nuclear weapons program.

It was the first test-firing of a North Korean missile since Trump became United States president on Jan 20 and the country’s first major provocation in 2017. “North Korea must fully comply with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions”.