Seoul: North Korea said on Wednesday its newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can carry a large nuclear warhead, triggering a call by Washington for global action to hold it accountable for pursuing nuclear weapons.
A spokeswoman for the US defense department said it had concluded that North Korea test-launched an ICBM on Tuesday, which some experts now believe has the range to reach the US state of Alaska as well as parts of the mainland United States.
US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said the test, on the eve of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, represented “a new escalation of the threat” to the United States and its allies, and vowed to take stronger measures.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the test completed his country’s strategic weapons capability that includes atomic and hydrogen bombs and ICBMs, the state KCNA news agency said.
Pyongyang would not negotiate with the United States to give up those weapons until Washington abandons its hostile policy against the North, KCNA quoted Kim as saying. “He, with a broad smile on his face, told officials, scientists and technicians that the US would be displeased ...As it was given a ‘package of gifts’ on its ‘Independence Day’,” KCNA said.
Mr Kim ordered them to “frequently send big and small ‘giftpackages’ to the Yankees,” it added.
The launch came days before leaders from the Group of 20 nations are due to discuss steps to rein in North Korea’s weapons programme, which it has pursued in defiance of United Nations Security Council sanctions.
The test successfully verified the technical requirements of the newly developed ICBM in stage separation, the atmospheric re-entry of the warhead and the late-stage control of the warhead, KCNA said. Mr Tillerson warned that any country that hosts North Korean workers, provides economic or military aid to Pyongyang, or fails to implement UN Sanctions “is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime”.
“All nations should publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to their pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Mr Tillerson said in a statement. US President Donald Trump has been urging China, North Korea’s main trading partner and only big ally, to press Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programme.
The UNSC, currently chaired by China, will hold an emergency meeting on the matter, following a request by the US, Japan and South Korea.
North Korea appeared to have used a Chinese truck, originally sold for hauling timber, but later converted formilitary use, to transport and erect the missile.
Mr Trump has indicated he is running out of patience with Beijing’s efforts to rein in North Korea.
His administration has said all options are on the table, military included, but suggested those would be a last resort and that sanctions and diplomatic pressure were its preferred course.
