North Korea’s missile test is first of the Trump era
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward the sea off its eastern coast Sunday, in what South Korea called the North’s first attempt to test President Donald Trump’s policy on the isolated country.
The missile took off at 7:55 a.m. from Banghyon, near North Korea’s northwestern border with China, and flew 310 miles before falling into the sea, South Korea said in a statement. The U.S. Strategic Command issued a statement identifying the missile as a medium- or intermediate-range system that “did not pose a threat to North America.”
South Korea condemned the launching, saying it violated U.N. Security Council resolutions that bar North Korea from developing or testing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons technologies. It also said the North had launched the missile to raise tensions over its weapons programs and to use it as leverage in dealing with the Trump administration.
The launch came as Trump was hosting Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, on an official visit, and the two hastily arranged a joint appearance in response. “North Korea’s most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable,” Abe said, calling on the country to comply with all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Looking grim, Trump said nothing about the launch but pledged to back Japan. “I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent,” he said. The two leaders were at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s club in Palm Beach, Florida.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the test demonstrated the “maniacal obsession” of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, with developing a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile.
The test of an intercontinental-range system would have been especially provocative because it would mean that North Korea was trying to develop the ability to strike the United States. South Korean officials said they believed that the North has been using the Musudan, its intermediate-range missile, to develop and test intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, technologies.
North Korea has often tested short-range Scud and midrange Rodong missiles that can reach most of South Korea and Japan, but it has had a spotty record in test-launching the Musudan, its only missile with sufficient range to reach U.S. bases in the Pacific, including those on Guam.
