Kim threatens to send more missiles over Japan

[손명숙]

(Asia Today Thursday 31 August 2017)

Kim threatens to send more missiles over Japan

People in Pyongyang watching a news report on the launch of North...

Updated: 6:48 AM, August 31, 2017

SEOUL/NEW YORK — North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has promised more missile flights over Japan, insisting his nuclear-armed nation’s provocative launch on Tuesday (Aug 29) was a “meaningful prelude to containing Guam”, in the face of United Nations condemnation and United States warnings of severe repercussions.

Mr Kim guided the firing of the intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket and urged his military to conduct more such launches into the Pacific Ocean in the future, according to a statement from the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The missile firing was part of “muscle-flexing” to protest against the annual military exercises being held between the US and South Korea, said KCNA. North Korea had threatened earlier this month to launch missiles over Japan towards Guam, which prompted warnings of retaliation from American military officials.

“The current ballistic rocket launching drill, like a real war, is the first step of the military operation of the KPA in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam,” KCNA quoted Mr Kim as saying. KPA stands for the Korean People’s Army.

Hours later, US President Donald Trump dismissed any diplomatic negotiations with North Korea. “The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!” Mr Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

Adding to tensions, the US Defence Department’s Missile Defence Agency announced a “complex” and successful missile defence flight test off Hawaii Wednesday, intercepting a medium-range ballistic missile target.

“We are working closely with the fleet to develop this important new capability, and this was a key milestone in giving our Aegis BMD (Ballistic Missile Defence) ships an enhanced capability to defeat ballistic missiles in their terminal phase,” said agency director Lieutenant-General Samuel Greaves in a statement, without mentioning North Korea.

The latest test by Pyongyang was the first North Korean projectile to fly over Japanese airspace since the regime launched a rocket over Okinawa last year, and undermines nascent hopes for dialogue over Mr Kim’s weapons programmes. That is after tensions had appeared to cool following a war of words between Mr Trump and Mr Kim earlier this month.

The United Nations Security Council said in a statement that it “strongly condemns” the launch. However, the US-drafted statement, which was agreed by consensus, does not threaten new sanctions on North Korea.

China is working with the security council in response to the tests, but does not favour unilateral sanctions against North Korea, said foreign minister Wang Yi at a briefing in Beijing Wednesday.

The KCNA report said the launch was the first of its kind from the capital. The missile was fired from Pyongyang Airport, according to the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies North Korea Missile Test Database.

Mr Kim Dong-yup, professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University in Seoul, said firing the missile from a densely populated area near Pyongyang and over Japan suggested that North Korea was confident in the missile’s stability.

“I do not think North Korea factored in much military meaning behind yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) missile launch, rather yesterday’s launch was all about North Korea being stubborn,” he said. “At the same time, North Korea is hinting that there is room for negotiation if the US and South Korea end the joint military exercises.”

On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the launch “an unprecedented, grave and serious threat”, while Mr Trump reiterated that “all options” are under consideration in response to Pyongyang’s actions. Mr Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed in a call Wednesday to raise pressure on North Korea to the “maximum” level, according to a statement by Mr Moon’s spokesman Park Su-hyun.

Speaking during a visit to the Japanese city of Osaka, British Prime Minister Theresa May called on China to put more pressure on North Korea.

Asked about her comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said some “relevant sides” were only selectively carrying out the UN resolutions by pushing hard on sanctions, yet neglecting to push for a return to talks. AGENCIES