SEOUL – North Korea fired a ballistic missile yesterday, drawing a strong rebuke from US President Donald Trump who vowed “100 percent” support for key ally Japan at a press conference with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The missile, the first test since Trump became president, was launched around 7:55 a.m. in Banghyon air base in the western province of North Pyongan and flew east towards the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the South Korean defense ministry said.
It flew about 500 kilometers before falling into the sea, a ministry spokesman said, adding the exact type of missile had yet to be identified.
“Today’s missile launch…is aimed at drawing global attention to the North by boasting its nuclear and missile capabilities,” the ministry said in a statement. “It is also believed that it was an armed provocation to test the response from the new US administration under President Trump,” it added.
Trump responded with an assurance to visiting Japanese Prime Minister Abe that Washington was committed to the security of its key Asian ally.
“I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent,” Trump said, without elaborating further.
Abe denounced the launch as “absolutely intolerable” while top government spokesman Yoshihide Suge told reporters in Tokyo that it was “clearly a provocation to Japan and the region.”
North Korea is barred under United Nations resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology but six sets of UN sanctions since Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in 2006 have failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons.
Last year, the country conducted numerous tests and launches in its quest to develop a nuclear weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.
A South Korean army official quoted by Yonhap news agency ruled out the possibility of a long-range missile test, describing the device as an upgraded version of the North’s short-range Rodong missile.
Seoul-based academic Yang Moo-Jin said the latest test was “a celebratory launch” to mark the February 16 birthday of Kim Jong-Il, former ruler and father of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un.
Pyongyang often celebrates key anniversaries involving current and former leaders with missile launches, Yang, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP. (AFP)
