UK says world will stand together against N.Korea after missile launch

North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific on September 15, responding to new United Nations sanctions with what appeared to be its furthest-ever missile flight amid high tensions over its weapons programmes. Kim has now pledged to complete the country’s nuclear program.

Meanwhile, on Sunday President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to intensify economic and diplomatic pressure against North Korea over its repeated nuclear and missile tests.

Tillerson said in a speech to foreign officials that the tests threaten the world and stressed the United States was working closely with regional allies Japan and South Korea.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Koro Bessho, Japan’s ambassador to the United Nations, condemned the launch as “a grave threat” to his country’s security.

He underlined “the need to put an end to them with the all-state efforts as it has almost reached the terminal”, he added.

It flew higher and further than one fired over Japan late last month.

The growing frequency, power and confidence displayed by the state’s tests has heightened fears North Korea is closer than ever to its goal of building a military arsenal that can target both U.S. troops in Asia and the USA homeland.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Wednesday diplomacy and talks are still on the table, because they can serve as tools to persuade North Korea to pursue denuclearization, Yonhap reported.

North Korea’s state-run news agency posted several photos of a smiling Kim watching as the missile “zoomed to the sky with dazzling flash and big explosion”.

A week ago, the 15-member U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted its ninth sanctions resolution since 2006 over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

US President Donald Trump had discussed North Korea’s “continued defiance of the worldwide community” with President Xi Jinping, the White House said on Monday.

It marked the longest flight for a North Korean ballistic missile after a spate of tests.

Sunan is home to Pyongyang International Airport, 24km north of the city centre.

North Korea had called that test a “meaningful prelude” to a threatened launch into waters near the American territory of Guam.

The U.S. has rejected these demands.

Trump’s National Security Advisor HR McMaster said the USA would “have to prepare all options” if sanctions prove insufficient to stop the North’s weapons drive.

The North claimed that the work “for increasing combat power of Hwasong-12 has been realized”.