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| This photo illustration shows a person in Seoul on June 23, 2016 pointing to a computer screen page of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) newspaper Rodong Sinmun displaying news of DPRK's Musudan missile test the day before. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP) |
The ballistic missile "took off a self-propelled launching ramp and accurately landed in the targeted waters forward 400 km after flying to the maximum height of 1413.6 km along the planned flight orbit," the KCNA said.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday expressed "strong concerns and opposition" to Pyongyang's launch of two suspected missiles, saying that the Wednesday launch is "in violation of" all relevant council resolutions.
Alexis Lamek, the deputy permanent representative of France to the United Nations, told reporters here after a closed council meeting that all the council members "expressed strong concern as well as their opposition against these launches." France holds the rotating council presidency for June.
The test-fire confirmed the flying kinetic feature of the DPRK ballistic missile with an updated system and its safety and control and the technical specifications of newly-designed rocket structure and its dynamic system, according to the state media. The test also verified heat-resistance of a warhead in its re-entry section and its flight stability.
Kim gave the order to start the missile launch after hearing a report on the plan. He was satisfied with the test results.
Kim said that the DPRK surely has the capability to attack the Americans in the Pacific region and that the country should have the powerful offensive means to pose a threat to the enemy and to defend its people from US threats and other hostile forces.
He also stressed the need for the DPRK to increase its "preemptive nuclear attack capability in a sustained way" and to continue to develop strategic attack weapons, adding that the nuclear attack capability should be steadily bolstered to protect the country and the people from US nuclear threat.
On Wednesday, the Republic of Korea's (ROK) Joint Chiefs of Staff said the DPRK launched two ballistic missiles which were suspected to be intermediate-range Musudan missiles near the Wonsan area on the eastern coast.
The first was launched at about 5:58 am Seoul time (2058 GMT Tuesday), but it appeared to have failed as the missile flew in an abnormal trajectory in a distance short of what a normal ballistic missile can fly. The DPRK test-fired a second missile at about 8:05 am Seoul time (2305 GMT Tuesday), which flew about 400 km. It is believed that a ballistic missile is required to fly at least 300 km to be considered successful in test-firing.
