North Korea has launched a medium-range Ballistic Missile on Sunday, making it the second in just a week. The test was carried out in the waters off its east coast. The US, Japanese, and South Korean authorities said.
South Korea swiftly responded by describing the launch as “reckless and irresponsible,” it admonished that the rocket flew around 500 kilometers near the Puckchang province of North Korea.
International reactions
According to Tomomi Inada Japanese Defense Minister, the missile traveled a distance of about 350 kilometers, which is approximately 217 miles, The missile did not fly more than 1,000 kilometers or 620 miles, it went off in the waters east of North Korea, she said.
Pyongyang carried out its most advanced missile launch a week earlier, which analyst described as the country’s most successful ever in its bid to acquire ballistic missile capable of conveying warheads.
The test conducted on May 14 reached an altitude of more than 2100 kilometers, approximately 1300 miles, according to reports by the DPRK. Experts are of the opinion that the test proved that North Korea are on the verge of developing a re-entry vehicle for nuclear warheads, and also indicate that Pyongyang has the capability of launching a ballistic missile on the US military base in Guam.
Possibility for an ICBM
The recent test carried out by the North is a medium-range ballistic missile, similar to the one carried out in February, according to a statement by White House official.
Experts believe that North Korea’s latest test may be about to provide the necessary information that will make it possible for the country to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that could strike the US mainland.
A weekly routine
Melissa Hanham of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies said it could be a foundation for longer range missile.
“This could be half or even a third of an ICBM,” she added. Saying that missiles of such capabilities are built in stages of two or three stacked atop of each other.
There has been a weekly nuclear test by Pyongyang since the May 9 inauguration of the newly elected President of South Korea Moon Jae-in, who has repeatedly called for a roundtable dialogue to with the North in a bid to resolving the nuclear proliferation and tension in the region.
This is a reckless and irresponsible behavior by North Korea on its repeated provocation, which amounts to truncating the peace move of the new government and the global community for non-proliferation and denuclearization, according to a statement from the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
