UN weighs response as North Korea claims nuclear power status


READ MORE

US President Donald Trump derided Kim as a “sick puppy” and vowed Washington was ready to slap “major sanctions” after the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).


Pyongyang tested its third ICBM on Wednesday – which it claimed was capable of striking anywhere in the United States – snapping a two-month pause in missile launches.


The council was meeting at the request of the United States, Japan and South Korea to consider next steps after three rounds of sanctions adopted in the past year failed to push North Korea to change course.


Trump spoke by telephone with Chinese President Xi Jinping and urged Beijing to use “all available levers” to press the hermit state.


“Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!” Trump said on Twitter.



Trump last week announced new US unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang and returned it to a US list of state sponsors of terror.


Historic cause


Wednesday’s missile was more sophisticated than any previously tested, state media said.


“The ICBM Hwasong-15 type weaponry system is an intercontinental ballistic rocket tipped with super-large heavy warhead which is capable of striking the whole mainland of the US,” the North’s official news agency KCNA said.


North Korean state television brought out Ri Chun-Hee, a star presenter who only appears for significant developments, to announce the landmark.


“Kim Jong-Un declared with pride that now we have finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of building a rocket power,” she said.


France’s UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said the Security Council should respond with a “tightening of the sanctions” – a move that would likely entail the adoption of a new sanctions resolution.


US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called for “additional measures” to toughen up international sanctions, including allowing countries to intercept vessels carrying goods to and from North Korea.


Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho said “the international community has to keep the pressure up so that North Koreans will understand that they need to change their course.”


Over the past year, the council has imposed biting sanctions on Pyongyang aimed at choking off revenue to Pyongyang’s military programs.


These include a ban on North Korean exports of coal, iron, lead, textiles and seafood, trade restrictions and the blacklisting of a number of North Korean entities and officials.


The council has also banned the hiring of North Korean guest workers and capped oil exports, in particular from China, Pyongyang’s main trading partner.


Russia called the launch “provocative” and China, North Korea’s sole major ally and diplomatic protector, expressed “grave concern and opposition.”


Beijing once again pressed its proposal that the North stop missile and nuclear tests in exchange for a freeze of US military exercises.


Washington has repeatedly rejected the proposal.


Canada said it would host a meeting of foreign ministers to discuss the North Korean threat.










Global strike threat


Pyongyang said the missile reached an altitude of 4,475 kilometres (2,800 miles) and splashed down 950 kilometres from its launch site.


At least one Western expert said the missile’s lofted trajectory suggested an actual range of 13,000 kilometres – enough to hit every major US city.


David Wright, an arms control expert and co-director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the flight parameters of Wednesday’s test pointed to a missile with “more than enough range to reach Washington DC, and in fact any part of the continental United States”.


While Pyongyang has yet to prove its mastery of the re-entry technology required to bring a warhead back through the Earth’s atmosphere, experts believe it is at least on the threshold of developing a working intercontinental nuclear strike capability.


In September Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and then fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan.


Trump spoke by phone with both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-In after Wednesday’s test to underline the global threat.


Trump is close to Abe, but relations with his South Korean counterpart – whom he has accused of appeasing Pyongyang – are far cooler, and there are concerns in Seoul that the US president might be considering military action against the North that could trigger a full-scale war.


Seoul is home to 10 million people and only about 50 kilometres from the border – well within range of Pyongyang’s artillery.



Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sbsnews-topstories/~3/meda8pcB7jo/bosnian-croat-war-criminal-dies-after-drinking-poison-un-court

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World Cup Central: Dhoni, Akhtar, Botham in All Blacks all-time cricket XV

READ MORE Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print World Cup fever has crossed platforms. There was Harry Kane sneaking into India’s training sessions to meet Virat Kohli. And now there’s the All Blacks picking a XV made up of past and present cricketers. With the @cricketworldcup underway in England, we’ve taken a look at all the best players from past and present to select the ultimate Cricket XV! SQUAD NOTES https://t.co/B3rnj5OBuJ #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/KuUtPU77PT — All Blacks (@AllBlacks) June 2, 2019 And they’ve got some pretty cool reasons for picking some pretty cool players. Curtly Ambrose : If anyone wants to argue with this selection then take it up with Sir Curtly himself. We dare you. MS Dhoni : The Richie McCaw of Cricket. Enough said. Dwayne Leverock : Famous for his one-handed catch at the 2003 World Cup, the 130kg Bermudian would surely make just as big a splash on the rugby field. Jofra Archer runs in to bowl  Get...
Read more

Banned Bancroft's journey of self-discovery

Image
READ MORE © Getty Images Spanish lessons, yoga and a host of community work have all been part of the path taken by Cameron Bancroft since the Newlands ball-tampering scandal. The Australia batsman has been looking to seek the sort of perspective and self-knowledge that will prevent him from following the kind of instructions issued to him by David Warner in the Cape Town dressing room. Bancroft spoke in Perth on Saturday ahead of his return to cricket via Twenty20 and 50-over appearances in the Northern Territory, where he will also endeavour to work closely in developing local talent. It’s the next step on the path away from Newlands as Bancroft serves a nine-month ban from the game imposed by Cricket Australia under its code of conduct. Perspective on life was greatly needed as Bancroft, Warner and the former captain Steven Smith pondered what evolved in South Africa, and Bancroft said he had spent plenty of time devoting himself broadening his own knowledge and also to...
Read more

Drones to become the new naval mine hunters under Morrison pledge

Image
READ MORE Advanced navies worldwide are increasingly turning to drones to do mine hunting and clearing work at sea. Marcus Hellyer, a former Defence Department official and now a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said that using autonomous and unmanned sea vehicles allowed the crewed ship to stay at the edge of a minefield, keeping naval personnel safer. The Morrison government has promised if re-elected to fast-track the building of two new mine hunting naval ships. Credit: Nine Newspapers “Common sense has prevailed,” he said of the decision. “Rather than keeping going down the path where you have old technology being extended at great cost, this will introduce new technology more quickly and that’s a good thing. “The current path does keep the human at the centre of the minefield, but the new approach lets them stay outside the minefield and let autonomous vehicles go in and do the dangerous work.” Article source: https:/...
Read more