North Korea says ballistic missile test a success

PanARMENIAN.Net - North Korea said on Monday, February 13 it had successfully test-fired a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile a day earlier, claiming further advancement in a weapons program it is pursuing in violation of United Nations resolutions, Reuters reports.

North Korea fired the ballistic missile on a high arc into the sea early on Sunday, the first test of U.S. President Donald Trump's vow to get tough on an isolated regime that tested nuclear devices and ballistic missiles last year at an unprecedented rate.

The North'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.

The United States, Japan and South Korea requested urgent U.N. Security Council consultations on the test, with a meeting expected on Monday afternoon, an official in the U.S. mission to the United Nations said.

Japan said on Monday further sanctions against Pyongyang could be discussed at the United Nations, and called on China to take a "constructive" role in responding to the latest launch.

China is North Korea's main ally and trading partner but is irritated by Pyongyang's repeated provocations, although it resists calls from the United States and others that it should be doing more to rein in its neighbor.

"We have asked China via various levels to take constructive actions as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and we will continue to work on it. At the same time, Japan will continue to urge North Korea to exercise self-restraint from provocative actions and comply with U.N. resolutions," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday.

China had yet to comment publicly on the launch on Monday.

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year, although its claims to be able to miniaturize a nuclear weapon to be mounted on a missile have never been verified independently.

KCNA said the missile was fired at a high angle in consideration of the safety of neighboring countries. A South Korean military source said on Sunday the missile reached an altitude of 550 km (340 miles).

It flew about 500 km towards Japan, landing off the east coast of the Korean peninsula.

The missile was propelled by a solid fuel engine and was an upgraded, extended-range version of its submarine-launched ballistic missile that was tested successfully last August, according to KCNA.