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North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Amid Heightened Tensions

November 28, 2017

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile, the latest in a series of launches that have raised tensions with the United States and its regional allies.

The U.S. Defense Department said that it detected and tracked a missile launched from Sain Ni, North Korea, that traveled about 1,000 kilometers before landing in the Sea of Japan on November 28.

The Pentagon said that initial assessment indicate it was an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"Our commitment to the defense of our allies ... in the face of these threats, remains ironclad," a statement read.

Speaking about the rocket launch, U.S. President Donald Trump said, "It is a situation that we will handle." He did not elaborate.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea launched a ballistic missile at around 6.17 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time from Pyongsong in South Pyongan Province over the sea between South Korea and Japan.

Seoul said it responded to the launch with a missile-firing test.

"We will never yield to any provocative act," Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. "We will maximize our pressure" on Pyongyang.

Diplomats were quoted as saying that Japan and the United States requested that the United Nations Security Council meet on November 29 to discuss the matter.

Pyongyang test fired several missiles this year, amid increased tensions over its nuclear program.

It fired an intermediate range missile over Japan in September, days after it carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.

An intercontinental ballistic missile test would signal further progress by North Korea in developing a weapon of mass destruction that could strike the U.S. mainland.

In a statement on November 28, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on the international community to continue sending "a unified message" to North Korea that it must abandon its weapon of mass destruction programs.

"All nations must continue strong economic and diplomatic measures," the statement read. " In addition to implementing all existing UN sanctions, the international community must take additional measures to enhance maritime security, including the right to interdict maritime traffic transporting goods to and from" North Korea.

It also said that "diplomatic options remain viable and open, for now," adding that the United States "remains committed to finding a peaceful path to denuclearization and to ending belligerent actions by North Korea."

A week ago, the U.S. administration designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, and imposed new sanctions against the country over its nuclear program.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa, and the BBC

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/north-korea- fires-ballistic-missile/28884730.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.