UN to consider statement on North Korea missile launch

Since the start of this year, North Korea has been at the center of global attention in view of its active missile testing. It flew an estimated 500 kilometers (310 miles) toward the seas around Japan, the longest distance North Korea has yet achieved in a submarine launch.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un declared a submarine-launched missile test the “greatest success”, state media said Thursday, as the United Nations weighed a condemnation of the launch which appears to advance Pyongyang’s nuclear strike capability. Kim said the launch effectively arms the country with fully-equipped nuclear attack capability and puts the USA mainland within its striking distance.

The UN Security Council met for two hours on Wednesday to discuss North Korea’s latest provocative move and agreed to consider a statement condemning the launch.

After North Korea’s previous missile test, the US also proposed a press statement, but diplomats said China insisted on language linking it to USA plans to place a high-tech missile defense system in South Korea.

Earlier this month, North Korea fired a land-launched ballistic missile directly into Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, drawing an outraged response from Tokyo. The missile landed in the East Sea or Sea of Japan after travelling 500km. Its longer distance puts all of South Korea within its range if it is fired near the border.

Missiles of such capability could also potentially strike parts of Japan, including US military bases on the island of Okinawa, considering the operational range of North Korea’s Sinpo-class submarines, which can move about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) underwater at a time, said analyst Kim Dong-yub at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

The KCNA said Kim watched from an observation post as the test-firing happened, which the agency said was carried out without “any adverse impact” on neighboring countries.

A proven SLBM system would take North Korea’s nuclear strike threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a “second-strike” capability in the event of an attack on its military bases.

According to Yonhap, the missile could have flown over 1,000 kilometers (over 620 miles) if it were fired at a regular angle.

Diplomats say China, which has close ties to North Korea, has blocked council action or insisted on changes in previous proposed texts that were unacceptable to other members.

He also stressed the need to speed up mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles and to focus efforts on the development of the delivery means.

But the North is “on track to the capability to strike targets in the region – including Japan – by 2020”, it said. The U.S. Strategic Command statement said the launch did not pose a threat to North America, but the U.S. military “remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations”.

While no Chinese representative spoke to the press, Russian Deputy Ambassador Peter Iliichev described the meeting as a “usual discussion” that addressed the violations of past resolutions and looked at “finding the way for stabilization” as well as a “diplomatic, political solution to the problem”.

The Foreign Ministry of China, North Korea’s last major ally, called for all sides to avoid actions that increase tensions.

The launch came just two days after Seoul and Washington kicked off their joint annual war games, codenamed Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG).

South Korea has responded to Pyongyang’s continued launches by agreeing to deploy a sophisticated USA anti-missile system – known as THAAD – a move that has seriously strained relations with North Korea’s main diplomatic ally, China.

But the council failed to condemn that launch, on August 2, after China sought to include language in a statement opposing the THAAD missile defense system that the United States plans to deploy in South Korea.

About 28,500 US troops are based in South Korea and tens of thousands of more in Japan.