North fires ballistic missile, challenging Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on North Korea accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., Saturday. North Korea fired a ballistic missile early Sunday in what would be its first such test of the year and an implicit challenge to Trump. / Reuters-Yonhap

Trump, Abe slam Pyongyang's provocation

By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea fired a ballistic missile into waters off its east coast Sunday, the first provocation since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The JCS said the missile was believed to be an ungraded version of the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), considering its speed.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is currently visiting the U.S., condemned the North's missile launch in a hurriedly arranged joint news conference with Trump hours after the surprise provocation.

Trump said he fully sides with Abe in condemnation of the North, but fell short of disclosing how he would react to the North's provocations.

The South Korean government also strongly criticized the launch, calling it an "explicit and clear" violation of U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions banning tests that can contribute to the advancement of nuclear weapon delivery capabilities.

The North's latest provocation is expected to provide a boost to the Trump government's hard-line stance toward the reclusive state and to the planned deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile battery on South Korean soil, scheduled for this year.

"North Korea fired the missile from the area of Banghyon air base in Kusong, North Pyongan Province," a JCS official said on condition of anonymity. "The missile was presumed to have reached an altitude of about 550 kilometers and flew about 500 kilometers before landing in the East Sea."

The official said military authorities of South Korea and the U.S. presumed the missile to be an improved version of the Musudan, saying there is the possibility the North used a solid-fuel engine this time. The solid-fuel engine poses a greater threat, compared to the liquid-fuel engine, as its fueling would require less time, making it harder to detect a rocket launch in advance.

"Last year, the North failed in its Musudan firings many times, so we see the possibility that it could have applied a new technology to the latest launch," he said.

Pyongyang fired a total of eight Musudan missiles last year, with only one flying some 400 kilometers. Most of the other missiles exploded right after takeoff.

The Musudan has a maximum range of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers, which is enough to strike U.S. military bases in Guam.

The North has heavily relied on liquid fuel for its ballistic missiles so far, but last March it claimed to have successfully tested a solid-fuel rocket engine. At the time, its leader Kim Jong-un said the test would help boost the country's ballistic missile capability.

Pyongyang used the solid-fuel engine to test-fire a submarine-launched ballistic missile in August.

"South Korea and the U.S. are currently conducting detailed analysis," the official said.

The JCS said the isolated state apparently attempted to explore the new U.S. administration's direction of policy related to North Korea by carrying out the military provocation.

"The provocation was also probably designed to give a message to the international community that the UNSC resolutions are not working to stop its nuclear and missile program," the official said.

The military has been closely monitoring any new activities in the North since its leader claimed in his New Year's Day address that Pyongyang has entered the final stage of preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in an apparent threat that the North is close to making a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking targets on the U.S. mainland.

Experts have mostly assessed that the North still has a lot of work to do in developing an operational ICBM as its progress in reentry vehicle capability and engine performance remain dubious.

Military authorities here have raised the possibility for Pyongyang to launch a Musudan instead of an ICBM if it decided to conduct any provocations. They said any launch will probably be aimed at mastering know-how linked to the Musudan, including the stability of its engine, as part of efforts to advance its ICBM capability.

The North's latest launch was detected by an Aegis destroyer of the South Korean Navy and the anti-ballistic missile early warning radar system, the JCS said.

Soon after the launch, Kim Kwan-jin, chief of the National Security Council (NSC), convened a session of the Standing Committee of the NSC at the presidential office, during which the government decided to formulate a "strong response" in close cooperation with the international community.

After the session, Kim held a phone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Mike Flynn to discuss the North's latest saber-rattling and agreed to explore "all possible ways" to curb Pyongyang's additional provocations.

The U.S. Strategic Command also confirmed the North's launch, saying it detected and tracked what appears to be either a medium- or intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Trump cautious about reaction to NK

Trump and Abe spoke with one voice, criticizing the North's provocation, at their joint news conference at the former's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Abe denounced the missile launch as "absolutely intolerable" and urged the Kim regime to comply with all UNSC resolutions. He added that he and Trump agreed to promote further collaboration and reinforce the alliance.

In response, Trump said, "I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent."

Trump, however, did not make any more comments on how he would react to the North's provocations.

After their summit at the White House, Friday, Trump said the two sides agreed to work closely together to cope with the nuclear and missile threats from the North, stressing that defending against the North's threats is a "very very high priority."

Some observers say the North's latest provocation may lend weight to the ongoing argument in South Korea as well as in the U.S. on a preemptive strike option against the repressive state.

The militaries of Seoul and Washington used to keep a cautious attitude on the option as it could bring about a full-scale war, but such an argument has been frequently mentioned since the North's unpredictable young leader ratcheted up military tensions through his New Year's Day message.

In a written answer to questions from Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Feb. 8, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he would formulate "a new approach to proactively address" threats from the North while keeping all options on the table, including the threat of military force.

The previous day, U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Vincent Brooks also called for boosting capabilities to strike the North during a teleconference hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army in Washington.