US says N. Korea likely has more in store after ICBM test
Washington seeks tougher UN sanctions on Pyongyang for 'increasingly dangerous' moves
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SEOUL • North Korea likely has "more in store" after successfully test-firing its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a top US official has said, as Washington called for tougher international sanctions at the UN Security Council.
Thursday's launch was the first time Pyongyang has fired Mr Kim Jong Un's most powerful missiles at full range since 2017.
It was conducted under Mr Kim's "direct guidance", and ensures his country is ready for "long-standing confrontation" with the United States, state media outlet KCNA reported.
"We see this as part of a pattern of testing and provocation from North Korea... we think there is likely more in store," White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters travelling on board Air Force One with President Joe Biden on Friday.
The missile appears to have travelled higher and farther than any previous ICBMs tested by the nuclear-armed country - including one designed to strike anywhere on the US mainland.
Referring to the North's recent launches as "increasingly dangerous provocations", the US on Friday called for a "resolution to update and strengthen the sanctions regime" against Pyongyang at the UN Security Council.
The move would follow up on sanctions implemented after the North's last test, when the council promised further measures in the event of future launches, US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.
"This is precisely what happened. So now is the time to take that action," she added.
The Group of Seven nations and the European Union called North Korea's latest launches a "blatant violation" of the country's obligations under UN Security Council resolutions in a joint statement on Friday condemning the country's "reckless actions".
State media photographs showed Mr Kim, wearing his customary black leather jacket and dark sunglasses, striding across the tarmac in front of a huge missile, with other images of him cheering and celebrating the test launch with uniformed military top brass.
Known as the Hwasong-17, the giant ICBM was first unveiled in October 2020 and dubbed a "monster missile" by analysts.
It had never been successfully test-fired before, and Thursday's launch prompted immediate outrage from North Korea's neighbours and the US.
KCNA said "the missile, launched at Pyongyang International Airport, travelled up to a maximum altitude of 6,248.5km and flew a distance of 1,090km for 4,052 seconds before accurately hitting the pre-set area in open waters" in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
South Korea's military had estimated the range of the Thursday launch as 6,200km - far longer than the last ICBM, the Hwasong-15, which North Korea tested in November 2017.
The missile landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, prompting anger from Tokyo, but KCNA said the test had been carried out "in a vertical launch mode" to ease neighbours' security concerns.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE