Missiles fired after nuclear bomb test
Two missiles – one ground-to-air, the other ground-to-ship – with a range of about 130 kilometres, were test-fired from an east coast launch pad, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified government official.
Pyongyang also warned ships to stay away from waters off its western coast this week, a sign it may be gearing up for more missile tests, South Korea’s coast guard said.
North Korea is “trying to test whether they can intimidate the international community” with its nuclear and missile activity, said Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN.
“But we are united, North Korea is isolated and pressure on North Korea will increase,” Rice said.
On Monday, US president Barack Obama assailed Pyongyang, accusing it of engaging in “reckless” actions that have endangered the region, and the North accused Washington of hostility.
North Korea appeared to be displaying its might following its underground atomic test that the UN Security Council condemned as a “clear violation” of a 2006 resolution banning the regime from developing its nuclear programme.
France called for new sanctions, while the US and Japan pushed for strong action against North Korea for testing a bomb that Russian officials said was comparable in power to those dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
China said it “resolutely opposed” North Korea’s test and urged Pyongyang to return to talks on ending its atomic programmes.
Russia, once a key backer of North Korea, condemned the test. Moscow’s UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, the current Security Council president, said the 15-member council would begin work “quickly” on a new resolution.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said he felt “frustrated by the lack of progress in the denuclearisation process” and said North Korea’s only viable option was to return to the six-party talks on disarmament, and continue exchanges and cooperation with South Korea. Ban, on a visit to Finland, declined to comment on possible further sanctions.
“I leave it to the Security Council members what measures they should take,” said Ban, a South Korean who once participated in international negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear programme.
South Korea said it would join a maritime web of more than 90 nations that intercept ships suspected of spreading weapons of mass destruction – a move North Korea warned would constitute an act of war.
North Korea’s nuclear test raises worries that it could act as a facilitator of the atomic ambitions of other nations and potentially even terrorists.
North Korea had threatened in recent weeks to carry out a nuclear test and fire long-range missiles unless the Security Council apologised for condemning Pyongyang’s April 5 launch of a rocket the US, Japan and other nations called a test of its long-range missile technology. The North has said it put a satellite into orbit as part of its peaceful space development programme.
