Pyongyang’s short-range ballistic missile flies 450 km, lands in Sea of Japan – S. Korean military
RT,
28
May, 2017
North
Korea has launched an unidentified projectile which appears to be a
short-range ballistic missile, Yonhap news reports, citing South
Korea’s military.
South
Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Pyongyang launched a projectile
in the eastern direction from Wonsan, Gangwon Province at dawn.
“It
is estimated to be a Scud type [missile],” JCS said, adding, that
the projectile flew about 450 kilometers.
“The
president was immediately notified of the situation, and the
president ordered the NSC Standing Committee at 7:30 am,” the
military statement said.
The
missile was tracked for six minutes, US Pacific Command said,
confirming that the projectile landed in the Sea of Japan. The US
military said the missile did not pose a threat to North America.
US
President Donald Trump has also been briefed about the launch,
according to a White House official.
#NorthKorea releases footage of air defense missile test https://on.rt.com/8cx5
Japan’s
Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said the North Korean
launches pose risk to air traffic in the area as well as to vessels
navigating the Sea of Japan, Reuters reports.
"This
ballistic missile launch by North Korea is highly problematic from
the perspective of the safety of shipping and air traffic and is a
clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions,"
Suga told reporters in televised remarks.
Suga
announced that North Korea launched one ballistic missile around 5:40
am from the east coast, and that the projectile seemed to have fallen
in the Sea of Japan within the Japanese exclusive economic zone
(EEZ). He condemned the launch as a violation of United Nations
Security Council resolutions.
“As
we agreed at the recent G7, the issue of North Korea is a top
priority for the international community," Japan's Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe said in brief comment on the launch. “Working
with the United States, we will take specific action to deter North
Korea.”
Pyongyang
announced earlier this month that it had successfully tested the
Pukguksong-2 intermediate range ballistic missile after a projectile
was detected landing in international waters off Japan’s east
coast. The allegedly nuclear-capable missile was launched just a week
after North Korea launched its Hwasong-12 rocket.
The
launch comes amid extremely high tensions on the Korean Peninsula. On
Sunday, US Defense Secretary James Mattis warned that a conflict with
North Korea would be “catastrophic.”
“The
North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket
launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on
earth, which is the capital of South Korea,” Mattis said on CBS's
‘Face the Nation.’
“This
regime is a threat to the region, to Japan, to South Korea. And in
the event of war, they would bring danger to China and to Russia as
well,” the Pentagon chief added. “But the bottom line is it would
be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat if we're not able
to resolve this situation through diplomatic means.”
President
Trump has repeatedly vowed to end Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic
missile programs, warning last month that if diplomacy fails, a
“major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible.
Trump
has also pressed China to put pressure on North Korea as its
Pyongyang’s main economic lifeline. Beijing, however, has its own
concerns with Washington’s decision to deploy its Terminal High
Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, saying it’s a
threat to its own security and will not contribute to the easing of
tensions with the North.
The
Chinese have also repeatedly called for all sides to remain calm and
level-headed during the North Korean stand-off and has urged the
parties to “stop irritating each other.”
Moscow
and Beijing have also been calling for a revival of the six-nation
denuclearization talks which have been frozen since 2009.
From CNN
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