[Courtesy of Xinhua News]
North Korea on Friday test-fired what appears to be a medium-range ballistic missile, days after its leader Kim Jong-un vowed to push for the launch of more rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads, military officials said.
A ballistic missile, launched from a base on North Korea's west coast at 5:55 am (2055 GMT), landed in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) after flying about 800 kilometers (480 miles), the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
"Its type was not known, but 800 km is beyond the range of North Korea's short-range missiles," a JCS spokesman told Aju News.
About 22 minutes after the first launch from Suckchon north of Pyongyang, South Korea's military radar detected an apparent second missile launch, he said.
"However, our radar lost its track at the altitude of about 17 kilometers," the spokesman said, suggesting that the second missile might have exploded in mid-air.
Sporadically, North Korea has fired short-range missiles mostly into the sea, but it has been more belligerent this year, showing off its nuclear arsenal, especially since the United Nations Security Council approved the toughest sanctions in decades.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fumed at the new UN sanctions, ordering nuclear weapons to be ready for use at any time and vowing to step up the development of atomic bombs.
North Korea last fired a medium-range Nodong missile in 2014, using a mobile launcher called "TEL (transporter erector launcher)". The single-stage Nodong has an estimated range of 1,300 kilometers with a payload capacity of 700 kilograms.
South Korea military data showed North Korea has already deployed some 200 medium-range missiles with Japan in their range. It was not known how many are set on TELs.
Friday's launch came after Pyongyang's state media this week quoted Kim as saying that a nuclear warhead explosion test and the test launch of "ballistic rockets" capable of carrying nuclear warheads will be carried out "in a short time".
Kim called for further tests to improve North Korea's nuclear missile capability, insisting his country has acquired re-entry technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Many experts have expressed doubts about North Korea's ability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead to be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile, but Kim said his country has acquired related technology.
It is impossible to verify North Korea's claim of success in developing a warhead capable of surviving the heat and shocks of re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere, but South Korea's defense ministry has repeatedly said there's no evidence that Pyongyang has mastered the required technology.
South Korea's defense ministry said Friday's launch was in line with Kim's recent order to step up missile and nuclear tests. "North Korea appears to be taking steps in line with Kim's call for the launch of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads," ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters.
The United States and Japan slammed Friday's launch, which came amid elevated tension on the Korean peninsula.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the launch as "extremely problematic". "Japan ... will take all necessary measures, such as warning and surveillance activity, to be able to respond to any situations," he said.
The US State Department urged North Korea to focus on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
