North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes a New Year's visit to to the Kumsusan memorial hall housing the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather. [Yonhap News Photo]
The United States said that North Korea's ballistic missile launches are unacceptable and vowed to show Pyongyang consequences in the event of such firings after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un strongly hinted the country is close to test-firing a long-range missile.
Kim said in his New Year's Day address that the communist nation has reached the final stage of preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a veiled threat that it's about to develop a nuclear missile capable of reaching the U.S.
In response, the State Department said that any launches by the North using ballistic missile technology are explicitly banned under multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
"We call on all states to use every available channel and means of influence to make clear to the DPRK and its enablers that launches using ballistic missile technology are unacceptable, and take steps to show there are consequences to the DPRK's unlawful conduct," spokeswoman Anna Richey-Allen told Yonhap News Agency.
"We call on the DPRK to refrain from provocative actions and inflammatory rhetoric that threaten international peace and stability, and to make the strategic choice to fulfill its international obligations and commitments and return to serious talks," she said.
US experts have warned that the communist nation could undertake provocations around the time when incoming US President Donald Trump takes office on January 20, noting Pyongyang has a record of staging provocations around US elections and transition periods.
Pyongyang is known to be developing a road-mobile ICBM, known as the KN-08, which is believed to have a range of more than 13,000 kilometers and could be capable of flying as far as the US mainland. But the North has never conducted an actual test of that missile.
Experts said that North Korea will focus on advancing its nuclear and missile capability in the new year, raising the possibility that it engages in more powerful provocations around its key anniversaries in the first half, including Kim's Jan. 8 birthday.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
