With North Korea claiming to test-fire a surface-to-surface medium-to-long-range ballistic missile, the United States, Japan and South Korea has requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting to discuss Pyongyang’s latest missile launch.
"The United States, along with Japan and the Republic of Korea, have requested urgent consultations on the DPRK's launch of a ballistic missile on February 12," a US mission spokesperson said.
North Korea has claimed that its top leader Kim Jong Un guided the test firing of a surface-to-surface medium-to-long-range ballistic missile Pukguksong-2.
The state media called Pukguksong-2 a ‘Korean style new type strategic weapon’, which was developed on the instructions of Kim Jong Un on the basis of the success made in the test-firing of the submarine-launched ballistic missile last August.
Kim received the report on the development of this surface-to-surface ballistic missile, set the date for the test launch and personally guided the preparations on the spot.
The state-run media noted that the test firing was conducted at a high angle considering security of the neighbouring countries.
Kim was satisfied with the test launch, saying that the new type ballistic missile system ‘provides convenience in operation and ensuring speed in striking’.
Pyongyang test-fired Musudan missiles near the same place, where an airfield is located, in October last year.
It was North Korea's first test-launch of a ballistic missile in 2017 and also the first since US President Donald Trump took office on January 20.
South Korea's military said Pyongyang's launch of ballistic missile was a provocative act in violation of UN Security Council's resolutions, which ban North Korea from testing any ballistic missile technology.
The launch, the South Korean military believed, was aimed at drawing attention by showing off its nuclear and missile capability and was also part of armed protest against the Trump administration's hard-line stance toward North Korea.
