N. Korea leader says new missile can hit US bases
What you need to know:
- Mr Kim, who personally monitored Wednesday’s Musudan missile test, applauded a “great event” that significantly bolstered the North’s pre-emptive nuclear attack capability.
The Musudan has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres, with the upper estimate covering US military bases as far away as Guam.
After a string of failures in recent months, North Korea tested two Musudans on Wednesday, one of which flew 400 kilometres into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
SEOUL, Thursday
Leader Kim Jong-Un threatened US military bases across the Pacific after North Korea’s test of a powerful new missile triggered emergency UN Security Council talks late on Wednesday on curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
Mr Kim, who personally monitored Wednesday’s Musudan missile test, applauded a “great event” that significantly bolstered the North’s pre-emptive nuclear attack capability, the official KCNA news agency reported.
“We have the sure capability to attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theatre,” Mr Kim was quoted as saying.
A Korean-language version of the same report had Kim referring to “the American bastards.”
The Musudan has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres, with the upper estimate covering US military bases as far away as Guam.
After a string of failures in recent months, North Korea tested two Musudans on Wednesday, one of which flew 400 kilometres into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
KCNA said the missile had been fired at a high angle to simulate its full range, and had reached a maximum height of more than 1,400 kilometres.
The test “marked an important occasion in further strengthening the nuclear attack capacity of our state,” Kim said.
Meanwhile, North Korea has “no thoughts” of resuming six-party talks on its nuclear programme, a top Pyongyang official said today in Beijing, despite the repeated urgings of its closest ally China.
The North quit the now-stalled negotiations aimed at curbing its nuclear weapons programme in 2009, and soon afterwards carried out its second atomic test.
The talks are hosted by China, and include South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Japan.
Beijing, the North’s main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor, wants to revive negotiations, although Washington, Seoul and Tokyo all insist Pyongyang — which carried out two missile launches earlier this week — must first take some tangible step towards denuclearisation.
Choe Son-Hui, deputy director-general of the North American affairs bureau in North Korea’s foreign ministry, said in Beijing:
“For now, we have no thoughts about taking part in talks for discussing North Korea’s denuclearisation.”
