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North Korea conducts dual tests of Musudan medium-range missile Japan condemns 'provocation' as North Korea tests two medium-range missiles
(about 2 hours later)
North Korea conducted two back-to-back tests of its prototype Musudan missile on Wednesday, with at least one launch ending in failure and the second coming down well inside its theoretical range, according to details released by the South Korean defence ministry. Japan has expressed concern about the growing military threat from North Korea, hours after the regime carried out its most successful test yet on a powerful medium-range missile that is capable, in theory, of striking US bases in the region.
The first test shortly before 6am local time was deemed to have failed by observers. A second missile flew about 400km (250 miles), South Korea’s military said. “The threat to Japan is intensifying,” Gen Nakatani, the Japanese defence minister, said after the second of two Musudan missiles launched by the North on Wednesday morning flew 250 miles (400km).
The Pentagon said both missiles came down in the Sea of Japan after they were launched from Wonsan on North Korea’s eastern coast. That was the longest distance a Musudan has achieved to date and equivalent to more than halfway to the south-west coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu.
Both test were believed to be of an intermediate-range Musudan missile that is designed to reach US bases as far away as Guam. Experts said North Korea appeared to have launched the second missile on an unusually high trajectory so that it would avoid violating Japanese air space.
North Korea had previously carried out four failed Musudan tests in 2016, in a setback for a weapons programme that ultimately aspires to develop a proven nuclear strike capability against the US mainland. The missiles are usually test-fired at a flatter angle to maximise their range, according to Jeffrey Lewis at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California. “That suggests the missile worked perfectly,” he said. “Had it been fired at its normal angle, it would have flown to its full range.”
Related: North Korea makes another failed attempt to launch ballistic missile Lewis warned that North Korea would eventually iron out any technical problems with the Musudan and then use the lessons to increase the threat to the US. “If North Korea continues testing, eventually its missileers will use the same technology in a missile that can threaten the United States,” he said.
UN resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology and in the hours before Wednesday’s launch efforts the Pentagon warned Pyongyang against pressing ahead with any test. It was not immediately clear whether Pyongyang considered the second Musudan launch a success or failure, or how the flight ended.
In a statement the South Korean defence ministry stressed that any such test was “a clear violation of UN resolutions”, while the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said it “cannot be tolerated”. But it appeared to have been more successful than the first launch two hours earlier, which ended when the missile disintegrated mid-flight after covering about 90 miles, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
US Commander Gary Ross said the United States strongly condemned this and other North Korean missile tests in violation of UN security council resolutions. The second Musudan, launched from the same east location as the first, reached an altitude of 620 miles – an indication, Nakatani said, that the country was making progress in its programme to develop a reliable intermediate-range weapon capable of hitting targets that could include South Korea, Japan and the US Pacific territory of Guam.
The US state department spokesman John Kirby condemned the launch and said the United States intended to “raise our concerns at the UN to bolster international resolve in holding the DPRK accountable for these provocative actions”. The launches also demonstrate the determination of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, to defy UN security council resolutions banning North Korea from developing ballistic missile technology.
The Musudan has an estimated range of anywhere between 2,500km and 4,000km (1,550 to 2,500 miles). The lower range covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam. “These provocations only serve to increase the international community’s resolve to counter [North Korea’s] prohibited activities, including through implementing existing UN security council sanctions,” US state department spokesman John Kirby said.
Three failures in April were seen as an embarrassment for North Korea’s leadership, coming ahead of a rare ruling party congress that was meant to celebrate the country’s achievements. “We intend to raise our concerns at the UN to bolster international resolve in holding [North Korea] accountable for these provocative actions.”
Another attempt in May was also deemed to have failed. Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said the launches were a clear violation of security council resolutions, adding that Japan would “respond to the situation through coordination with the United States and South Korea”.
Wednesday’s tests came with military tensions still running high following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch a month later that saw the UN security council impose its toughest sanctions to date on the North. The first launch on Wednesday is thought to have been the fifth time in a row the regime has failed to successfully fire a Musudan, which has an estimated range of between 1,550 and 2,485 miles.
During the party congress in May the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, had personally extended an offer of military dialogue with the South. In April, North Korea attempted unsuccessfully to launch three suspected Musudan missiles, but all exploded in mid-air or crashed, according to South Korean defence officials. Late last month, North Korea had another suspected Musudan failure, South Korean officials said.
The proposal was repeated several times by the North’s military, but Seoul dismissed all the overtures as insincere “posturing” given Kim’s vow at the same congress to push ahead with the country’s nuclear weapons programme. Nakatani described the launches as a “serious provocation”, while South Korea was to hold a meeting of national security experts to discuss the Musudan threat.
In recent months, North Korea has claimed a series of technical breakthroughs in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to targets across the continental United States. The South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, said repeated missile and nuclear tests had set North Korea on the path to self-destruction. “The North Korean regime should realise that complete isolation and self-destruction await at the end of reckless provocation,” Park said.
The claimed achievements included miniaturising a nuclear warhead to fit on a missile, developing a warhead that can withstand atmospheric re-entry and building a solid-fuel missile engine. North Korea is believed to have up to 30 Musudan missiles, which officials said were first deployed around 2007, although the North had never attempted to test-fire them until April this year.
The North also hailed the successful test of an engine specifically designed for an ICBM that would “guarantee” an eventual nuclear strike on the US mainland. Yonhap quoted an unidentified senior government official in Seoul as saying that the second test demonstrated an obvious “improvement in capacity and technology”.
Outside experts have treated a number of the claims with scepticism, while acknowledging that the North has made significant strides in upgrading its nuclear arsenal. The UN security council, with the support of the North’s main diplomatic ally China, imposed new sanctions in March after Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test and launched a long-range rocket.
With Agence France-Presse and Reuters North Korea claimed the rocket was carrying an observation satellite, but the launches are seen as an opportunity for the state to test ballistic missile technology.