North Korea withdraws ambassador from London

The foreign ministers of all three countries, which have been at odds over China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, condemned the North Korean missile launch.

The commander of Army forces in the Pacific said Wednesday that North Korea’s 300-mile launch of a missile from a submarine was more evidence of the drastically increased missile threat under the latest Kim family dictator, Kim Jong Un.

This test is another one of a series of launches the isolated country conducted in defiance of United Nations sanctions.

“There was a general sense of condemnation by most members of the council”, Malaysia’s Ambassador to the U.N. Ramlan Bin Ibrahim, who chaired the meeting, told reporters.

The submarine launch appeared to mark a major advance in North Korea’s technology and methods for potential attack, and also brought about a rare moment of agreement among Japan, South Korea and China.

However diplomats expected further haggling with China, Pyongyang’s main ally, over the wording.

The South Korean and USA militaries said the missile was sacked from near the coastal city of Sinpo, where a submarine base is located.

China is stepping up its opposition to the planned US deployment of the advanced ground-based missile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, in South Korea.

Pyongyang’s KCTV aired brief footage shot from different camera angles, showing the missile soaring from underwater, igniting and surging nearly vertically into the air.

Kim was shown smiling and hugging officials after watching the test from an observation deck.

“I do not guess what ridiculous remarks the US 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 North has attempted two such launches before, but neither was seen as successful by outside experts.

North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons development programs have brought heavy worldwide sanctions down on its head, but it says they are justified because of the threat posed by the USA and South Korea.

“I do not guess what ridiculous remarks the United States and its followers will make about this test-fire, but I can say their rash acts will only precipitate their self-destruction”, he was quoted as saying.

North Korea usually responds to regular South Korea-U.S. military drills with weapons tests and fiery warlike rhetoric.

If fired at the optimum angle and fully fueled, it could travel over 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles), the source said.

But the North is “on track to the capability to strike targets in the region – including Japan – by 2020”, it said.

North Korean state television on Thursday showed video clips of the launch of a missile from underwater at dawn, and still photographs of Kim on the dock at a port as a large crane unloaded an object onto a submarine. The North American Aerospace Defense Command determined that the missile launch did not threaten the United States, StratCom said.