North Korea conducts ‘absolutely unacceptable’ ninth weapons test

‘Unprecedented repeated firing of ballistic missiles’ widely condemned by US, Japan and South Korea

File: People watch a TV showing a file image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news programme at the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea (AP)

North Korea on Sunday said it had conducted “another important test” for reconnaissance satellite systems, a day after its neighbours’ militaries reported the launch of a ballistic missile from the country.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency said the country had conducted “another important test” on Saturday under its plan to develop a reconnaissance satellite amid growing concerns that the country was preparing to conduct a major weapons test in upcoming months.

Authorities tested the satellite’s data transmission and reception system and its ground-based control systems, the news agency said.

South Korea and Japan had on Saturday said they had detected a single launch of a ballistic missile from an area near the North Korean capital Pyongyang.

The launch was the country’s ninth such test in 2022, after a brief pause for most of February, amid stalled denuclearisation talks.

The North had carried out a record number of missile launches in January after threatening to abandon a self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles and had then resumed testing its military capabilities on 27 February, just days ahead of South Korea's upcoming presidential election.

Saturday’s launch was widely condemned by the governments of South Korea, Japan and the US, amid growing speculation that the North could conduct a major weapons test in coming months.

South Korea’s National Security Council condemned the “unprecedented repeated firing of ballistic missiles” which violates the peninsula’s peace and stability.

The South will “even more closely monitor North Korea’s nuclear and missile-related facilities” including its main nuclear reactor facility at Yongbyon and the Punggye-ri nuclear weapons test side, the security council said in a statement.

Following the launch, Japan’s defence minister Nobuo Kishi said the “significant pace at which North Korea is developing its missile-launching technology is not something our country and the surrounding regions can overlook”.

“This is absolutely unacceptable,” he told reporters.

He said the projectile flew 300km and reached a height of 550km, similar to the South Korean military’s estimate.

The US state department slammed North Korea over its weapons programmes at the United Nations Security Council calling it a threat to the entire region.

The launch demonstrates the threat North Korea’s missile programmes pose to its neighbours and the region as a whole, a state department spokesperson said.

The latest launch took place a week after the North was accused of firing a ballistic missile that flew about 300km at a maximum altitude of about 600km on 27 February.

The North confirmed it had tested reconnaissance satellite systems, indicating it could soon launch long-range artillery.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the test had involved installing cameras for a reconnaissance satellite conducting vertical and oblique photography of a specific part of Earth.

The testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting American land was suspended by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2018 when he initiated diplomacy with former US president Donald Trump.

The negotiations, however, stalled in 2019 when the US rejected North Korea’s demand for relief over major sanctions in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear weapons.