Pentagon confirms South Korean THAAD plans

The United Nations on Sunday condemned North Korea’s satellite launch as a “dangerous and serious” violation of global restrictions, and threatened new sanctions aimed at dissuading the rogue nation from building missiles capable of delivering weapons against distant adversaries including the United States.

Hours after North Korea’s long-range rocket launch on Sunday, South Korean and USA military officials announced they would begin formal discussions on placing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) on the North’s doorstep. North Korea under leader Kim Jong-Un has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal unless Washington scraps what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy meant to collapse Kim’s government.

National Security Adviser Susan Rice said, “We condemn today’s launch and North Korea’s determination to prioritize its missile and nuclear weapons programs over the wellbeing of its people whose struggles only intensify with North Korea’s diversion of scarce resources to such destabilizing activities”.

The rocket was launched on a southward trajectory, as planned, passing over Japan’s southern Okinawa islands, Japan’s NHK reported, and appeared to have successfully separated its first stage booster, South Korea’s Yonhap reported.

In an interview with CBS aired on Monday, President Barack Obama said that he was not surprised by the launch, and the U.S. had been concerned about the country’s behaviour for some time.

But Beijing has been reluctant to back measures that would take aim at North Korea’s already weak economy.

He said, however, that he would leave characterizing how successful that was to the North Koreans.

The 15-member council said it would “adopt expeditiously” a new sanctions resolution, but there was no indication that China would agree to U.S. demands to include tougher measures.

United States ambassador Samantha Powers called for robust responses to “violations” committed by the North Koreans. North Korea’s latest transgressions require our response to be even firmer.

The launch followed a nuclear test one month ago.

Cook declined to state when exactly the USA and South Korea would move forward with the talks.