U.N. Security Council holds emergency meeting on N.K missile launches

The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss North Korea's latest test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, as the communist nation claimed the test was successful.

Alexis Lamek, deputy U.N. ambassador of France that holds the council's rotating presidency for June, told reporters after the meeting that the council plans to adopt a press statement in coming days. He also said council members recognized the launches are a violation of U.N. resolutions.

It is unusual for the council to hold an emergency meeting over intermediate-range missile launches. In past launches of the Musudan, the council issued a press statement without holding a meeting. That suggests the council is taking the latest launches seriously.

The North fired two Musudan missiles off its east coast early Wednesday in its fifth and sixth attempt to test the missile. The first one exploded in mid-air, but the second missile flew about

400 kilometers before landing in the East Sea in an indication of progress.

On Thursday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said that the latest test of what it calls the Hwasong-10 medium long-range strategic ballistic missile, known as Musudan in the outside world, was successfully carried out with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance.

The KCNA said the missile flew out of the atmosphere as it soared to an altitude of 1,413.6 kilometers before successfully re-entering the atmosphere and landing in the targeted waters about 400 kilometers away from the launching site.

If confirmed, the launch would mark important progress in the North's missile program as re-entry technology has been considered one of the hardest obstacles the North must overcome before developing a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.

The North has test-launched the Musudan missile six times so far, beginning April 15. All but the sixth launch failed, with the missile exploding in midair or on a mobile launcher, or crashing seconds after launch.

The latest launches come a week before the North convenes its rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, and could be hailed as a key achievement of leader Kim Jong-un following the North's fourth nuclear test in January and February's long-range rocket launch. (Yonhap)

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