North Korea today launched an intercontinental ballistic missile for the
second time in a month, the Pentagon said, a day after US Congress
voted to impose new tougher sanctions against Russia, Iran and
Pyongyang.
The unusual late-night test launch prompted the heads of the US and
South Korean militaries to discuss "military response options”, the
Pentagon said.
It was North Korea’s 12th missile test this year and second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in less than a month.
"The US Department of Defence detected and tracked a single North Korea
missile launch today at about 10:41 AM (New York time),” Pentagon
Spokesman Capt Jeff Davis said.
"We assess that this missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM), as had been expected. The missile was launched from Mupyong-ni
and travelled about 1,000 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan.
"We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment,” Davis said.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) determined the
missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America,
he said.
"Our commitment to the defence of our allies, including the Republic of
Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, remains ironclad. We
remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies from any attack or
provocation,” Davis said.
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Congressman Paul Ryan said:
"North Korea is a global menace and its pursuit of nuclear-capable
intercontinental ballistic missiles poses clear and immediate danger to
our national security. We take this threat very seriously.
"That’s why, earlier this week, a bipartisan majority of the House voted
to sanction North Korea. These expansive sanctions directly target
Pyongyang’s ability to threaten the US and our allies. The Kim (Jong-Un)
regime needs to pay for its actions,” Ryan said.
Harry J Kazianis, director of Defence Studies from the Centre for the
National Interest, a recognised expert on North Korea, said the latest
test should not come as a surprise.
"North Korea is slowly morphing into a nuclear and missile power right
before our very eyes. North Korea will continue to test over and over
again its missile technology and nuclear weapons in the months and years
to come in order to develop the most lethal systems it can.
"And you can bet every time they do tensions will continue to rise. This
is what makes the situation on the Korean Peninsula as dangerous as it
is,” he said.
A day earlier, Commander of US Pacific Command Admiral Harry Harris said
North Korea is "a clear and present danger” to global peace and
stability.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s regime is not only a threat to South
Korea, Japan and the US, but to China, Russia and US allies in the
Pacific and Indian Oceans, he said.
"(North Korea is) a threat to the entire world because North Korea’s
missiles point in every direction. It’s the reason why we call for all
nations to implement far stronger economic sanctions against Pyongyang,”
Harris said at an event at the Japanese Embassy in Washington.
The provocative North Korea ICBM test comes in less than 24 hours of the
Senate passing 98-2 a bill to impose tough sanctions on Russia, North
Korea and Iran.
"Kim Jong-Un must end his dangerous pursuit of a nuclear weapon or face
total economic isolation. The sanctions will limit access to foreign
currency and the ability to conduct trade, severely weakening the North
Korean economy,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein.
"It also gives us the ability to work with the UN to impose harsh
penalties against any foreign entity that violates or helps North Korea
circumvent these sanctions,” she said.
In the past a few days, the Trump administration has ramped up its
pressure on China to use its leverage on North Korea from going ahead
with its missile tests.
"We expected China to exert its very considerable, economic, political
and diplomatic pressure on North Korea. The president has said he is not
satisfied with the results,” Sebastian Gorka, a top presidential
adviser told PBS News early this week.
"That’s why the president on the fringes of the G20 sat down with the
heads of state of both South Korea and Japan to take the North Korean
issue back to the UN Security Council. And why the president,
additionally, at the end of the G20 had a conversation with (Chinese
President) Xi Jinping to tell him exactly what he thought about what
China needs to do right,” he said.
"Right now we’re going to maintain our policy of peaceful pressure with
regards to North Korea, hoping that China can step up to the plate,
while the president takes no options off the table,” Gorka said.
Following the North Korean ICBM launch, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, General Joseph Dunford and Commander of US Pacific Command
Admiral Harry Harris called South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman
General Lee Sun Jin.
"During the call, Dunford and Harris expressed the ironclad commitment
to the US-Republic of Korea alliance. The three leaders also discussed
military response options. Harris joined Dunford in his Pentagon office
to make the phone call,” the Joint Chief of Staff Chairman’s spokesman
Navy Capt Greg Hicks said.
Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, said the ICBM test is further evidence of Pyongyang’s
determination to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
"The US stands by our allies in Seoul and Tokyo, and there should be no
question of our ironclad alliance commitments to safeguard our common
security and the people of South Korea and Japan,” he said.
In a statement, he said that the UN Security Council will also take
additional measures to address Pyongyang’s wanton disregard for the will
of the international community, and the threat that its nuclear and
missile programmes pose to regional peace and stability.
"This latest test also makes clear that the president’s approach to
North Korea is not working, and I call on the president and his national
security team to rethink how the US can best combine pressure,
sanctions, our alliances and our military might with agile and
forward-leaning diplomacy to seek to effectively address North Korea’s
malign ambitions,” Cardin added.
