N.Korea says missile test over Japan was a 'prelude to containing Guam'
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has called for more missile launches into the Pacific flouting international fury.
The rogue nation’s official news agency said Monday’s ballistic test over Japan was the first step of a military operation in the area and a prelude to containing Guam.
NEW: #NorthKorea releases first photos of the August 29 KN17 IRBM that flew over Japan. pic.twitter.com/l3cJvDbZsb
— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) August 29, 2017
Earlier this month North Korea threatened to fire four missiles near Guam which is home to a major US military base. Pyongyang says the latest launch was also to counter US and South Korea military drills on its border.
Pyongyang’s actions triggered an emergency meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council in New York.
The council president, Egyptian Ambassador Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta:
“The Security Council calls the DPRK’s actions outrageous and demands that the DPRK ( North Korea)immediately cease all such activities.”
U.N. must take ‘serious’ action against North Korea over missile: Nikki Haley https://t.co/bhkDJwnfVPpic.twitter.com/9YDrbveJ3l
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 29, 2017
Japan welcomed the US-drafted statement which was agreed by the council but it fell short of threatening new sanctions due to anticipated opposition from both China and Russia. (China is widely seen as the nation most able to impose economic pain on North Korea such as targeting the oil that Pyongyang imports from China. But Beijing does not want to take actions that would destabilise the government in North Korea as it would potentially unleash chaos on its border.)
At the UN Security Council meeting both China and Russia also reiterated calls to halt deployment of a US missile defence system in South Korea.
