The South Korean government wants greater firepower to counteract the growing threat from North Korea’s missiles
The South Korean government wants greater firepower to counteract the growing threat from North Korea’s missiles, which have apparently led the new liberal government in Seoul to prioritize tougher action against Pyongyang over diplomatic engagement.
This represents a significant shift for Moon Jae-in, who was elected president just two months ago and will be welcomed in Washington, where the Trump administration has been growing frustrated with South Korea’s heel-dragging.
The catalyst for the sudden change was North Korea’s second launch in a month of an intercontinental ballistic missile technically capable of reaching the U. S. mainland.
The Pentagon said that the missile, launched close to midnight North Korea time Friday, flew about 2,300 miles almost straight up before crashing into the sea off Japan about 620 miles from its launch site.
Fixed cameras for NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster, appeared to capture the missile crashing into the sea not far from the coast of Hokkaido, the northern Japanese island.
If the ICBM had been launched on a normal trajectory, the missile could theoretically have reached Chicago and perhaps even New York, experts said after analyzing the launch.
North Korean state television on Saturday broadcast footage of the launch, showing leader Kim Jong Un in a grassy area surrounded by trees in the middle of the night, as the missile was wheeled out on the back of a modified truck.
The missile launched July 28 from Mupyong-ni in Chagang province, in northern North Korea and flew about 45 minutes. (Sign up for our free video newsletter here http: //bit.ly/2n6VKPR)
The Rodong Sinmun, the Workers’ Party newspaper, ran a big front-page photo of Kim signing the order to launch the missile that North Korea calls the Hwasong-14. It was just one of many photos showing the 33-year-old North Korean leader in the control room and at the launch site.
The launch confirmed several key technical advances, showing the power of the motors and the ability of the missile to survive reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere, the North Korean state news agency reported.
It also “demonstrated the capability of making surprise launch of ICBM in any region and place any time, and clearly proved that the whole U. S. mainland is in the firing range of the DPRK missiles, ” the agency quoted Kim as saying.
“If the Yankees brandish the nuclear stick on this land again despite our repeated warnings, we will clearly teach them manners with the nuclear strategic force which we had shown them one by one, ” Kim said, according to the report.
