iStock/Thinkstock(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korea confirmed on Monday that it had “successfully” tested a solid-fuel ballistic missile that it claims is capable of reaching Japan and major U.S. military bases, according to state media.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the launch from an observation post and ordered it for deployment, according to state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The launch marked the country’s second missile test in a little more than a week as the country continues to defy orders for it to reign in its nuclear and missile program.
The test quiets aspirations of peace between North and South Korea. South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it strongly condemns the launch and urged North Korea to immediately stop any actions that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions.
President Donald Trump, currently in the midst of his first foreign trip as president, had no immediate public comment on the test.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called the country’s previous missile launch “disappointing” and “disturbing” in an interview on Sunday.
“The ongoing testing is disappointing, it’s disturbing, and we ask that they cease that, because until they cease that testing, clearly they have not changed their view,” Tillerson in an interview with FOX News Sunday. “But I think we’re early into the game of putting pressure on them. And one could also interpret that perhaps they’re just acting out now in response to some of this pressure that I believe they’re beginning to feel.”
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