Kim Jong-Un Fires Ballistic Missile, Confirms U.S. Officials And South Korea’s Military
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un reportedly fired an unidentified ballistic missiles off North Korea’s coast, confirms both South Korea’s military and U.S. officials.
The tensions between North Korea and the United States have rapidly increased ever since Donald Trump ordered retaliatory actions against Syria. After the Syria attack, Kim Jong-un warned the United States that if his regime and country feels threatened by Donald Trump’s government, then he will use his nuclear weaponry.
According to CNN, even after multiple warnings from the United Nations and Donald Trump’s administration, North Korea has launched a missile from a test facility near the country’s west coast early Sunday morning.
U.S. officials have confirmed the launch and stated that they are still assessing whether the missile launch by Kim Jong-un was successful or not. The officials are trying to determine what kind of missile was tested by the Korean peninsula. The United States is expecting that under Kim’s regime, the hermit state fired a KN-17 medium-range ballistic missile.
According to the South Korean military, the launched missile flew about 435 miles and for 30 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan, reported Reuters. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said North Korea’s missile launch was a violation of U.N. resolutions and Japan strongly protests the aggressive action taken by Kim Jong-un.
South Korea says rival North Korea launches a projectile believed to be a ballistic missile. https://t.co/WWg13zmo2p
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 13, 2017
“North Korea’s repeated missile launches are a grave threat to our country and a clear violation of UN resolutions,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.
The launch came just days after South Koreans went to the polls to elect a new president. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that he would be open to visiting the rival North to resolve the ongoing conflicts.
“I will quickly move to solve the crisis in national security. I am willing to go anywhere for the peace of the Korean Peninsula — if needed, I will fly immediately to Washington. I will go to Beijing and I will go to Tokyo. If the conditions shape up, I will go to Pyongyang,” Moon said in his first address to the country’s National Assembly.
North Korea’s latest missile launch comes weeks after Donald Trump talked about the ongoing conflict with Kim Jong-un’s regime. During his candid interview, President Trump revealed that he would prefer meeting Kim under special circumstances. Apart from this, Trump added that they are in a major conflict with the Korean peninsula.
A North Korean diplomat said that Pyongyang would be willing to meet with the Donald Trump administration for negotiations “if the conditions are set.” Choe Sun-hee, the top North Korean diplomat who handles relations with the U.S., spoke briefly to reporters in Beijing en route to Pyongyang and gave a possibility of a future meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
In a sign of America’s growing concern with the North, the CIA talked about its establishment of an integrated Korean Mission Center. The mission center will be headed by veteran operations officers to harness and direct the spy agency’s efforts in addressing the nuclear and ballistic missile threats.
Despite multiple warnings from China and Japan, Kim Jong-un has reportedly shown that he is not going to take the diplomatic path to resolve issues. Prior to this, North Korea’s ambassador to the U.K., Mr. Choe II revealed that their supreme leader is all set to test their sixth nuclear missile.
“I can say that the nuclear test will be conducted at the place and time as decided by our supreme leader, Kim Jong-un. Our nuclear power is our sovereign right. It is the only way to protect the peace of the Korean Peninsula and its neighboring area.”
Now many are wondering if today’s missile test is the same one that Mr. Choe II was talking about in his interview.
[Featured Image by Iranian Defense Ministry/AP Images]
