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The United States, Japan and South Korea requested an urgent United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss DPRK’s latest missile test.
“The United States, along with Japan and the Republic of Korea, have requested urgent consultations on the DPRK’s launch of a ballistic missile on Feb 12,” said a US mission spokesman. The test was seen as a challenge to Mr Donald Trump’s young presidency.
DPRK said on Monday (Feb 13) that it had successfully test-fired a new type of medium-to-long-range ballistic missile on Sunday, claiming further advancement in a weapons program it is pursuing in violation of United Nations resolutions.
The DPRK's state-run KCNA news agency said leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the Pukguksong-2, a new type of strategic weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
DPRK has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year, although its claims to be able to miniaturise a nuclear weapon to be mounted on a missile have never been independently verified.
KCNA added that the missile was fired at a high angle in consideration of the safety of neighbouring countries. A South Korean military source said on Sunday the missile reached an altitude of 550km. It flew a distance of about 500km, landing in the Sea of Japan.
DPRK also said the missile was propelled by a solid fuel engine, which follows last year's test of what it said was a solid-fuel powered submarine-launched missile.
Solid fuel engines boost the power of ballistic rockets and give them greater range. They give less warning of an impending launch because it takes less time to fuel the rocket.
A US official said over the weekend that the Trump administration had been expecting a DPRK's "provocation"soon after taking office. The United States will consider a full range of options in response, but they would be calibrated to show US resolve while avoiding escalation, the official added.
The latest test comes a day after Mr Trump held a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and also follows Mr Trump's phone call last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
(THE STRAITS TIMES)
