N Korea claims success in testing new type of missile
13 Feb 2017
North Korea said today it had successfully test-fired a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile, claiming further advancement in a weapons programme it is pursuing in violation of United Nations resolutions.
North Korea fired the ballistic missile on a high arc into the sea early on Sunday, the first test of US 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 UN Security Council consultations on the test, with a meeting expected today, an official in the US mission to the United Nations said.
North Korea 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 verified independently.
KCNA said 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 550 km. It flew a distance of about 500 km, landing off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, towards Japan.
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.
South Korea's military said today the missile had been launched using a "cold-eject" system, whereby it is initially lifted by compressed gas before flying under the power of its rocket, a system used for submarine-launched missiles.
In addition to launching more quickly, solid fuel engines boost the power of ballistic rockets and give them greater range.
The test also verified a "feature of evading interception" and "the mobility and operation of the new type missile launching truck", KCNA reported.
Before Sunday, the North's two most recent missile tests had taken place in October. Both were of intermediate-range Musudan missiles and both failed, according to US and South Korean officials.
A US official said at the weekend the Trump administration had been expecting a North Korean "provocation" soon after taking office.
The latest test came a day after Trump held a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and also followed Trump's phone call last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Abe described the test as "absolutely intolerable" and said North Korea must comply with UN Security Council resolutions.
In brief comments standing beside Abe in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said, "I just want everybody to understand, and fully know, that the United States of America is behind Japan, our great ally, 100 per cent."
Trump and his aides are likely to weigh a series of possible responses, including new US sanctions to tighten financial controls, an increase in naval and air assets in and around the Korean peninsula, and accelerated installation of new missile defence systems in South Korea, the administration official said.
Kim said in his New Year speech the North was close to test-launching an ICBM and state media have said such a launch could come at any time.
