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UN Security Council condemns North Korea missile test | UN Security Council condemns North Korea missile test |
(35 minutes later) | |
The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea's latest missile test and warned of new sanctions. | The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea's latest missile test and warned of new sanctions. |
In a statement, the 15-member Council demanded that Pyongyang conduct no further such tests. | In a statement, the 15-member Council demanded that Pyongyang conduct no further such tests. |
North Korea earlier said the missile it had tested on Sunday was a new type of rocket capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead. | North Korea earlier said the missile it had tested on Sunday was a new type of rocket capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead. |
The missile travelled some 700km (435 miles), reaching an altitude of 2,000km and landing in the sea west of Japan. | The missile travelled some 700km (435 miles), reaching an altitude of 2,000km and landing in the sea west of Japan. |
North Korea said it was a test of the abilities of a "newly developed ballistic rocket". | North Korea said it was a test of the abilities of a "newly developed ballistic rocket". |
South Korea's military said it could not yet verify the North's claims. | South Korea's military said it could not yet verify the North's claims. |
But it said Pyongyang's missiles did appear to be able to leave and re-enter the atmosphere, which is crucial to developing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports. | But it said Pyongyang's missiles did appear to be able to leave and re-enter the atmosphere, which is crucial to developing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports. |
What do we know about North Korea's new missile? | |
In the statement on Monday, the UN Security Council stressed on the importance of North Korea "immediately showing sincere commitment to denuclearization through concrete action". | |
Pyongyang should "conduct no further nuclear and ballistic missile tests", it said. | |
The Council has imposed six sets of sanctions against the North since 2006. | |
Earlier on Monday, North Korea's KCNA state news agency said the test of a "newly developed mid/long-range strategic ballistic rocket, Hwasong-12" had gone to plan. | |
"The test-fire aimed at verifying the tactical and technological specifications of the newly developed ballistic rocket capable of carrying a large-size heavy nuclear warhead," it said. | |
North Korea is known to be developing both nuclear weapons - it has conducted five nuclear tests - and the missiles capable of delivering those weapons to their target. Both are in defiance of UN sanctions. | |
But it remains unclear whether it has the ability to make the weapons small enough to be mounted on a rocket, and it has never tested an ICBM which could reach, for example, the US. | |
ICBM's are considered to have a range of about 6,000km, but analysts believe the missile tested on Sunday would have travelled about 4,000km if it had been fired at a standard trajectory rather than upwards. | |
The KCNA report said that, as ever, the test had been overseen by the North's Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un. | |
It said he had told the scientists and technicians involved "not to be complacent" but to build further "nuclear weapons and methods of delivery" until the US made "the right choice". | |
The White House has mooted talks with North Korea under the right conditions, which would include a halt to missile tests. | |
But in a statement on Sunday, it said Pyongyang had been "a flagrant menace for far too long" and that this "latest provocation" should "serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions". | |
The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said on Sunday that until Mr Kim met the US conditions, "we're not sitting down with him". | |
South Korea's newly elected President Moon Jae-in, who is seeking deeper engagement with the North, said it was a "reckless provocation" while China, North Korea's only real ally, is urging restraint. |