North Korea test another two short-range missiles following nuclear test
North Korea yesterday fired test-fired two short-range missiles, reports said, a day after the country triggered international condemnation by conducting an underground nuclear test.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted Government officials in Seoul as saying the tests took place near the east coast city of Hamhung and involved one ground-to-air and one ground-to-ship missile.
If confirmed, the launches would be the fourth fired this week and came amid a dramatic escalation in tensions on the Korean peninsula following Monday’s underground nuclear test.
That test was swiftly condemned by the United Nations (UN), with the Security Council unanimously labelling it a “clear violation” of a 2006 resolution passed after Pyongyang’s first atomic detonation.
“The members of the Security Council have decided to start work immediately on a Security Council resolution on this matter,” the body said in a statement after holding crisis talks on Monday.
At the White House, United States’ (US) President Barack Obama also condemned the test as “reckless” and pledged to take action in response to the underground blast, which was said to be 20 times more powerful than the 2006 test.
“North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes pose a grave threat to the peace and security of the world, and I strongly condemn their reckless action,” Obama told reporters.
Obama called the test “a blunt violation of international law” and said Pyongyang had reneged on its commitment to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
He was later reported to have phoned the leaders of Japan and South Korea to assure them of the US’s “unequivocal commitment” to their defence.
South Korea meanwhile has announced that it will formally join a US-led initiative to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction - a move seen as likely to compound tensions in the region.
North Korea had previously warned that it would view the South’s membership of the Proliferation Security Initiative as tantamount to “a declaration of war”.
The UN talks were preceded by a “P5 + 2” session between the five Permanent members of the Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – plus Japan and South Korea.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also joined widespread international criticism of the test, saying he was “deeply disturbed” by reports it had taken place.
“They should have come to the dialogue table and resolved all the issues through peaceful means,” he said.
The nuclear test site was believed to be near the North-Eastern town of Kilchu.
Following the UN talks, several diplomats hinted that they would push for fresh sanctions against North Korea under a new resolution.
“This resolution should include new sanctions in addition to those already adopted because such behaviour should have a cost and a price to pay,” Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the French Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, told reporters.
Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, said Washington would seek “a strong resolution”, calling the test “a grave violation of international law, and a threat to regional and international peace and security”.
Rice, however, stopped short of mentioning possible sanctions.
Former US ambassador to the UN during the George Bush administration, John Bolton, declared that the US needed to respond to the test using “strong measures”.
“I think we should conclude from this that North Korea is not going to be talked out of its nuclear programme,” Bolton warned.
“I would recommend economic sanctions along the lines of those imposed on Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990... I believe this is a case that calls for North Korea to be expelled from the United Nations for persistent violations of its charter,” the hawkish former US ambassador claimed.
Bolton also suggested the US should “return North Korea to the list of state sponsors of terrorism”.
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