N. Korea Missile Program Progressing Faster Than Expected, Says South

SEOUL (Reuters) —
The long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 (Mars-12) is launched during a test in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday. (KCNA via Reuters)

North Korea’s missile program is progressing faster than expected, a South Korean minister said on Tuesday, hours after the UN Security Council demanded the North halt all nuclear and ballistic missile tests and condemned Sunday’s test-launch.

The reclusive North, which has defied all calls to rein in its weapons programs, even from its lone major ally, China, has been working on a missile, mounted with a nuclear warhead, capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has called for an immediate halt to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs and has warned that the “era of strategic patience” with North Korea under previous presidents was at an end.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo told parliament Sunday’s test-launch was “successful in flight.”

“It is considered an IRBM (intermediate-range ballistic missile) of enhanced caliber compared to Musudan missiles that have continually failed,” he said, referring to a class of missile designed to travel up to 1,860 to 2,485 miles.

Asked if North Korea’s missile program was developing faster than the South had expected, he said: “Yes.”

The North’s KCNA news agency said on Monday the launch tested its capability to carry a “large-size heavy nuclear warhead.” Its ambassador to China said in Beijing on Monday it would continue such test launches “any time, any place.”

The missile flew 489 miles on a trajectory reaching an altitude of 1,312 miles, KCNA said.

Pyongyang has regularly threatened to destroy the United States, which it accuses of pushing the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war by conducting recent military drills with South Korea and Japan.

In a unanimously agreed statement, the 15-member U.N. Security Council said it was of vital importance that North Korea show “sincere commitment to denuclearization through concrete action and stressed the importance of working to reduce tensions.”

“To that end, the Security Council demanded the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea conduct no further nuclear and ballistic missile tests,” the Council said, adding that it was ready to impose further sanctions on the country.

The statement also condemned an April 28 ballistic missile launch by Pyongyang. Following that launch, Washington began talks with China on possible new U.N. sanctions. Traditionally, the United States and China have negotiated new measures before involving remaining Council members.

The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 and has strengthened the measures in response to its five nuclear tests and two long-range rocket launches. Pyongyang is threatening a sixth nuclear test.

President Trump warned in an interview with Reuters this month that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible. In a show of force, the United States sent an aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, to waters off the Korean peninsula to conduct drills with South Korea and Japan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Beijing on Monday that Moscow was opposed to any new countries acquiring nuclear weapons, but that the world should talk to North Korea rather than threaten it.

Apart from worries about North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs, cybersecurity researchers have found technical evidence they said could link North Korea with the global WannaCry “ransomware” cyberattack that has infected more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries since Friday.

Symantec and Kaspersky Lab said on Monday some code in an earlier version of the WannaCry software had also appeared in programs used by the Lazarus Group, which researchers from many companies have identified as a North Korea-run hacking operation.

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