North Korea ignored renewed global efforts to end its nuclear threat
by firing a ballistic missile over Japan for the second time in less
than a month early Friday morning.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of
Staff said the missile was launched from the Pyongyang area before
flying a distance of around 3,700 km (2,300 miles) over northeastern
Japan and landing in the Pacific Ocean, according to the local news
agency Yonhap.
The projectile was assessed to be another
intermediate-range ballistic missile, although it traveled 1,000 km (621
miles) further than the North's previous test -- placing American
forces and strategic assets in Guam well within the North's range.
Following
the "provocative" launch, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said past UN
Security Council resolutions are the bare minimum response Pyongyang
can expect as he called on China and Russia to take action against the
North.
"China supplies North Korea with most of its oil. Russia is
the largest employer of North Korean forced labor," he said in a
statement. "China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these
reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own."
Seoul's
response was swift -- the South Korean military announced a ballistic
missile drill of its own immediately after revealing Pyongyang's launch,
while President Moon Jae-in presided over a National Security Council
meeting.
The United Nations Security Council is also expected to
gather later in the day, having only just unanimously adopted its ninth
resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea this past Monday in
response to the reclusive state's sixth ever nuclear test on Sept. 3.
Pyongyang condemned the latest resolution, threatening, Wednesday, to completely destroy both the United States and Japan.
(Anadolu Agency)