AFP, Seoul :
North Korea is seeking an “equilibrium” of military force with the United States, state media reported Saturday, after Pyongyang sparked global condemnation with a sixth nuclear test then fired a second missile over Japan in less than a month.
The North’s leader Kim Jong-Un said the country was close to the goal of completing their nuclear force and should use all state power to finish as they have “nearly reached the terminal”, the official KCNA news agency reported. “Our final goal is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the U.S. and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK,” Kim Jong-Un said, according to the KCNA report.
North Korea on Friday fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan that landed in the Pacific, responding to new UN sanctions with its furthest-ever missile flight.
The launch came days after the UN Security Council slapped fresh sanctions on the isolated country in response to the their sixth nuclear test on September 3.
North Korea’s leader said that Friday’s Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile fired over Japan had been successful and had increased the North’s “combat power of the nuclear force”, KCNA said. “We should clearly show the big power chauvinists how our state attain the goal of completing its nuclear force despite their limitless sanctions and blockade,” Jong-Un said, according to KCNA. The North has raised global tensions with its rapid progress in weapons technology under leader Kim Jong-Un, who is regularly pictured by state media overseeing launches and visiting facilities. The North’s last missile launch, a Hwasong-12 IRBM just over two weeks ago, also overflew Japan’s main islands and was the first to do so for years.
Under Kim’s watch, North Korea has maintained a torrid pace in weapons tests, including its most powerful nuclear test to date on Sept. 3 and two July flight tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.
The increasingly frequent and aggressive tests have added to outside fears that the North is closer than ever to building a military arsenal that could viably target the U.S. and its allies in Asia. The tests, which could potentially make launches over Japan an accepted norm, are also seen as North Korea’s attempt to win greater military freedom in the region and raise doubts in Seoul and Tokyo that Washington would risk the annihilation of a U.S. city to protect them. The KCNA said Kim expressed great satisfaction over the launch, which he said verified the “combat efficiency and reliability” of the missile and the success of efforts to increase its power.
While the English version of the report was less straightforward, the Korean version quoted Kim as declaring the missile as operationally ready. He vowed to complete his nuclear weapons program in the face of strengthening international sanctions, the agency said.
Photos published by North Korea’s state media showed the missile being fired from a truck-mounted launcher and a smiling Kim clapping and raising his fist while celebrating from an observation point. It was the first time North Korea showed the missile being launched directly from a vehicle, which experts said indicated confidence about the mobility and reliability of the system. In previous tests, North Korea used trucks to transport and erect the Hwasong-12s, but moved the missiles on separate firing tables before launching them.
The U.N. Security Council accused North Korea of undermining regional peace and security by launching its latest missile over Japan and said its nuclear and missile tests “have caused grave security concerns around the world” and threaten all 193 U.N. member states.
Kim also said the country, despite “limitless” international sanctions, has nearly completed the building of its nuclear weapons force and called for “all-state efforts” to reach the goal and obtain a “capacity for nuclear counterattack the U.S. cannot cope with.”
“As recognized by the whole world, we have made all these achievements despite the U.N. sanctions that have lasted for decades,” the agency quoted Kim as saying.
Kim said the country’s final goal “is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the U.S. and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK,” referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
North Korea is seeking an “equilibrium” of military force with the United States, state media reported Saturday, after Pyongyang sparked global condemnation with a sixth nuclear test then fired a second missile over Japan in less than a month.
The North’s leader Kim Jong-Un said the country was close to the goal of completing their nuclear force and should use all state power to finish as they have “nearly reached the terminal”, the official KCNA news agency reported. “Our final goal is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the U.S. and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK,” Kim Jong-Un said, according to the KCNA report.
North Korea on Friday fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan that landed in the Pacific, responding to new UN sanctions with its furthest-ever missile flight.
The launch came days after the UN Security Council slapped fresh sanctions on the isolated country in response to the their sixth nuclear test on September 3.
North Korea’s leader said that Friday’s Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile fired over Japan had been successful and had increased the North’s “combat power of the nuclear force”, KCNA said. “We should clearly show the big power chauvinists how our state attain the goal of completing its nuclear force despite their limitless sanctions and blockade,” Jong-Un said, according to KCNA. The North has raised global tensions with its rapid progress in weapons technology under leader Kim Jong-Un, who is regularly pictured by state media overseeing launches and visiting facilities. The North’s last missile launch, a Hwasong-12 IRBM just over two weeks ago, also overflew Japan’s main islands and was the first to do so for years.
Under Kim’s watch, North Korea has maintained a torrid pace in weapons tests, including its most powerful nuclear test to date on Sept. 3 and two July flight tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.
The increasingly frequent and aggressive tests have added to outside fears that the North is closer than ever to building a military arsenal that could viably target the U.S. and its allies in Asia. The tests, which could potentially make launches over Japan an accepted norm, are also seen as North Korea’s attempt to win greater military freedom in the region and raise doubts in Seoul and Tokyo that Washington would risk the annihilation of a U.S. city to protect them. The KCNA said Kim expressed great satisfaction over the launch, which he said verified the “combat efficiency and reliability” of the missile and the success of efforts to increase its power.
While the English version of the report was less straightforward, the Korean version quoted Kim as declaring the missile as operationally ready. He vowed to complete his nuclear weapons program in the face of strengthening international sanctions, the agency said.
Photos published by North Korea’s state media showed the missile being fired from a truck-mounted launcher and a smiling Kim clapping and raising his fist while celebrating from an observation point. It was the first time North Korea showed the missile being launched directly from a vehicle, which experts said indicated confidence about the mobility and reliability of the system. In previous tests, North Korea used trucks to transport and erect the Hwasong-12s, but moved the missiles on separate firing tables before launching them.
The U.N. Security Council accused North Korea of undermining regional peace and security by launching its latest missile over Japan and said its nuclear and missile tests “have caused grave security concerns around the world” and threaten all 193 U.N. member states.
Kim also said the country, despite “limitless” international sanctions, has nearly completed the building of its nuclear weapons force and called for “all-state efforts” to reach the goal and obtain a “capacity for nuclear counterattack the U.S. cannot cope with.”
“As recognized by the whole world, we have made all these achievements despite the U.N. sanctions that have lasted for decades,” the agency quoted Kim as saying.
Kim said the country’s final goal “is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the U.S. and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK,” referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
