North Korea on Tuesday fired a new “unidentified projectile” into the Sea of Japan, off its eastern coast, as reported by the South Korean Army. Barely an hour after the shooting was notified, the North Korean ambassador has defended in the United Nations General Assembly the right of his country to test its defense technology. The South Korean General Staff has detailed that the device has been launched from Jagang province (north). In turn, a spokesman for the Japanese Defense Minister has stated, under anonymity, that the projectile “appeared to be a ballistic missile.” This launch is the latest episode in a series of messages crossed between the two Koreas, which on the one hand boost his military career and on the other open the door and evoke a possible dialogue.
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“No one can deny the right to self-defense of the People’s Republic of Korea to develop, test, manufacture and possess weapons systems equivalent to those they own or are developing,” said Ambassador Kim Song in New York. “We are only building our national defense to reliably safeguard security and peace in the country,” he added.
The United States has condemned the firing of the missile and urged Pyongyang to engage in dialogue, through a statement from the State Department, in charge of foreign relations. “This launch violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions and poses a threat to the DPRK’s neighbors. [República Popular Democrática de Corea] and the international community. We remain committed to a diplomatic approach to the DPRK and we call on it to dialogue, ”he added.
Subject to numerous international sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, North Korea has conducted several ballistic tests this month, including long-range cruise missiles. For its part, the South also announced this month that it had successfully tested submarine-launched missiles for the first time, an advanced technology available only to a few countries. After an emergency meeting, the Seoul National Security Committee issued a statement on Tuesday lamenting “the launch at a very critical moment in the political stability of the Korean peninsula.”
Last week Kim Jong-un’s sister and adviser commented on the possibility of an inter-Korean summit, if “mutual respect” and “impartiality” were guaranteed. Kim Yo Jong also criticized the “double standards” of South Korea and the United States, which denounce the North Korean trials, at the same time that they develop their own military capabilities.
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