The Secretary-General of the United Nations considered the attack a violation of UN Security Council rules. Missile fell 300 kilometers from a Japanese island.
The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, condemned this Thursday “vehemently” the launch, on Wednesday, of an intercontinental missile by North Korea, in violation of the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
“The Secretary General strongly condemns the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Guterres’ office said in a statement, using North Korea’s official name. You “Repeated launches” of ballistic missiles are “clear violations of Security Council resolutions”is added to the text.
This Thursday, the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, stated that the launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) demonstrates the “Pyongyang’s determination to fight back”. Wednesday’s launch is an “appropriate military measure aimed at warning rivals, who have intentionally escalated the regional situation and recently posed a threat to national security,” Kim said.
In a statement cited by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency, the leader also stated that North Korea “will never change its strategy to develop its nuclear capabilities”. The statement confirmed that the projectile tested was an intercontinental ballistic missile, something that had already been advanced by both the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea and the Japanese Minister of Defense, General Nakatani.
Hours earlier, Nakatani had said that the missile could have been of a new type, as the flight duration of 86 minutes and the maximum recorded altitude of more than seven thousand kilometers exceeded data from previous North Korean tests. The minister also highlighted that the flight distance is estimated at about a thousand kilometers.
The Japanese Coast Guard confirmed that the missile fell outside the country’s exclusive economic zone, approximately 300 kilometers west of Okushiri Islandin the Hokkaido subprefecture (northern), reported the Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
The JCS spokesperson said the launch was possibly timed taking into account the US presidential election, scheduled for November 5, in an attempt to strengthen North Korea’s negotiating power.
The spokesman for the United States National Security Council “strongly” condemned the test and expressed concern about the risks of destabilization in the region. “The launch constitutes a flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” Sean Savett said in a statement.
The launch followed a meeting in Washington between the defense ministers of the United States and South Korea, Lloyd Austin and Kim Yong-hyun. At the meeting, both leaders condemned the sending of North Korean troops to Russia, which, according to Austin, have already approached the Ukrainian front and are equipped with Russian uniforms and materials.
North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles on September 18, in which it said it had successfully tested a new tactical projectile capable of carrying a large warhead.
Source: Observadora
