SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un hailed the successful test of a powerful new medium-range missile as a direct threat to US military bases across the Pacific, as the UN Security Council met late Wednesday to consider its response.
Kim, who personally monitored Wednesday’s Musudan missile test, applauded a “great event” that significantly bolstered the North’s pre-emptive nuclear attack capability, the official KCNA news agency reported.
“We have the sure capability to attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theatre,” Kim was quoted as saying.
The Musudan has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres (1,550 to 2,500 miles), with the upper estimate covering US military bases as far away as Guam.
After a string of failures in recent months, North Korea tested two Musudans on Wednesday, one of which flew 400 kilometres into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
KCNA said the missile had been fired at a high angle to simulate its full range, and had reached a maximum height of more than 1,400 kilometres.
The success of the test “marked an important occasion in further strengthening the nuclear attack capacity of our state,” Kim said.
The launch was condemned by the international community and the UN Security Council met for closed-door consultations on how best to respond.
France’s deputy UN ambassador Alexis Lamek, whose country holds the council presidency, told reporters after the meeting that Council members had been united in “deep concern and opposition” to the test which was a clear violation of UN resolutions.
Existing UN measures prohibit North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.
The United States, NATO and Japan also denounced the test, with South Korea vowing to push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang.
Experts warned that Wednesday’s success marked a significant step forward for a weapons program that ultimately aspires to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear strike on the US mainland.
The North has displayed an ICBM, called the KN-08, which uses the same engine technology as the Musudan but has never been test-fired.
