15 May, 2017
The unidentified ballistic missile was launched at 5:27 a.m. Sunday Seoul time (4:27 p.m. Saturday ET), off Kusong north of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, a South Korean military official told NBC News.
Following this morning's test launch by the regime of North Korea, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the act was the result of Kim Jong-un's "state of paranoia" and a response to South Korea's election last week.
"U.S. and South Korean military officials are still assessing what type of shorter-range missile this one was".
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the early morning launch but had few other details, including what type of ballistic missile was sacked.
But if it was sacked at a standard trajectory, it would have a range of at least 4,000 km (2,500 miles), experts said. Meanwhile, a North Korean diplomat who deals with American affairs suggested that the country would be open to talks with the USA if the conditions were amenable.
On Sunday, Washington and Tokyo asked the council to convene an urgent meeting a few hours after South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that Pyongyang had launched a ballistic missile earlier in the day, the second missile firing in two weeks.
Outside militaries will closely analyze what the North fired.
North Korea's past long-range satellite launches have been called clandestine tests of ICBM technology, but it is not believed to have tested a true intercontinental ballistic missile yet.
The launch will also complicate Moon's efforts to improve ties with China, after South Korea's former government made a decision to position a US anti-missile defense system aimed at defending against North Korea.
A statement from US President Donald Trump's WHite House called for the already existing sanctions to be tightened.
China said it opposes North Korea's "violation of the (UN) Security Council's resolutions", the foreign ministry said in a statement.
It has been suggested the testing was direct provocation to test South Korea's new president.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also slammed the launch, reports CNN.
"This missile launch posed no danger for the Russian Federation". But she said more analysis was needed.
Experts said the altitude the missile tested on Sunday reached meant it was launched at a high trajectory, which would limit the lateral distance it traveled.
A USA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the missile landed 97km south of Russia's Vladivostok region, prompting the White House to reference Moscow in a statement about the incident.
The Trump administration in March declared a change in policy towards North Korea.
Before the missile test, the US Treasury said it was considering "every tool in our arsenal" to cut off sources of global financing for illegal activities in the North.
"The United States should never expect us to give up our nuclear capability", the main Rodong newspaper said in a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
Moon's office said on May 12 that the South Korean leader urged Putin in a 20-minute phone call to play a "constructive role" in resolving tensions with North Korea over its threats to use nuclear weapons.
The North has stepped up tests of its missile program in recent months, although several failures have been detected by South Korean and USA officials.
The USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft supercarrier, is also engaging with South Korean navy ships in waters off the Korean Peninsula.
According to North Korea, Pyongyang has the right to test missiles as "the imperialist United States and its followers are notching up pressure on us" and "driving the situation of the Korean Peninsula out of control by warmongering".
Tensions are rising between the US and North Korea, despite President Trump calling North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a "smart cookie" in a recent interview with Face The Nation.
Mr Trump's national security adviser, H R McMaster, phoned his counterparts in Japan and South Korea to discuss the situation.
