North Korea Tests Ballistic Missile, US To Avoid Escalation
North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea
early on Sunday, the first such test since US President Donald Trump was
elected, and his administration indicated that Washington would have a
calibrated response to avoid escalating tensions.
The test was of a medium- or intermediate-range missile that landed in the Sea
of Japan, according to the U.S. defence department, not an Intercontinental
Ballistic Missile (ICBM), which the North has said it could test at any time.
The launch marks the first test of Trump's vow to get tough on an isolated North
Korean regime that last year tested nuclear devices and ballistic missiles at
an unprecedented rate in violation of United Nations resolutions. A US official said the Trump administration
had been expecting a North Korean "provocation" soon after
taking office and will consider a full range of options in response, but these
would be calibrated to show US resolve while avoiding escalation.
The new administration is also likely to step up pressure on China to rein in North
Korea, reflecting Trump's previously stated view that Beijing has not done enough
on this front, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"This was no surprise," the official said. "The North Korean
leader likes to draw attention at times like this." The latest test comes a day after Trump held
a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and also follows
Trump's phone call last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"I just want everybody to understand, and fully know, that the United
States of America is behind Japan, our great ally, 100 percent," Trump
told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, speaking alongside Abe. He made no
further comments.
Abe called the launch "absolutely intolerable" and said North
Korea must comply with UN Security Council resolutions.
China is North Korea's main ally but has been frustrated by Pyongyang's
repeated provocations, although it bristles at pressure from Washington and Seoul
to curb the North and its young leader, Kim Jong Un.
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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 defense systems in South Korea, the administration official
said.
But the official said that given that the missile was believed not to have been
an ICBM and that Pyongyang had not carried out a new nuclear explosion, any
response will seek to avoid ratcheting up tensions.
"IT WON'T HAPPEN"
Trump has pledged a more assertive approach to North Korea but given
no clear sign of how his policy would differ from Obama's so-called strategic
patience. In January, Trump tweeted "It won't happen!" after Kim said
the North was close to testing an ICBM, but his aides never explained how he
would do so. The missile was launched
from an area called Panghyon in North Korea's western region just before 8
a.m. (2300 GMT Saturday) and flew about 500 km (300 miles), the South's Office
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
"Our assessment is that it is part of a show of force in response to the
new US administration's hardline position against the North," the office
said in a statement.
A South Korean military source said the missile reached an altitude of about
550 km and was probably a medium-range Rodong, which the North has successfully
test-fired numerous times in recent years, or a previously unknown new type,
given the unusually high trajectory.
The North tried to launch an intermediate-range Musudan missile eight times
last year but most attempts failed. One launch that sent a missile 400 km (250
miles), more than half the distance to Japan, was considered a success by
officials and experts in the South and the United States. Kim said in his New Year speech that the
country was close to test-launching an ICBM and state media have said such a
launch could come at any time.
The comments prompted a vow of an "overwhelming" response from U.S.
Defence Secretary James Mattis when he travelled to South Korea earlier this
month.
Once fully developed, a North Korean ICBM could threaten the continental
United States, which is about 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea.
ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are
designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or more.
North Korea conducted two nuclear tests and numerous missile-related tests
last year and was seen by experts and officials to be making progress in its
weapons capabilities, although until Sunday no ballistic missile launch attempt
had been detected since October. Its
repeated missile launches prompted Washington and Seoul to agree to deploy a
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile battery in South Korea
later this year, which is strongly opposed by Beijing, which worries the
system's powerful radar undermines its own security.
Sunday's launch comes at an awkward time for South Korea, where President Park
Geun-hye has been stripped of her powers after a December parliamentary vote to
impeach her. Her fate will be decided by the Constitutional Court, which is
hearing arguments on whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment.
No comments
Post a Comment