North Korea’s Kim applauds latest missile test as "greatest success"

PanARMENIAN.Net - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared a submarine-launched missile test the "greatest success", state media said Thursday, August 25, as the UN weighed a condemnation of the launch which appears to advance Pyongyang's nuclear strike capability, AFP reports.

The U.S. mainland and the Pacific are now "within the striking range" of the North's army, the official KCNA news agency reported Kim as saying after Wednesday's launch.

The missile was fired from a submarine submerged off the northeastern port of Sinpo on Wednesday, according to South Korea's military. It flew 500 kilometres towards Japan, far exceeding any previous sub-launched tests.

The UN Security Council met for two hours on Wednesday to discuss North Korea's latest provocative move and agreed to consider a statement condemning the launch.

"There was a general sense of condemnation by most members of the council and therefore we will have to see how we would then be phrasing the press statement," said Ramlan bin Ibrahim from Malaysia, which currently holds the council's presidency.

However diplomats expected further haggling with China, Pyongyang's main ally, over the wording, AFP says.

Kim said the latest launch proved the North had joined the "front rank of the military powers fully equipped with nuclear attack capability".