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N. Korea launch was new 'tactical guided projectile': Pyongyang

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Sebastien Berger, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/afp/03/26/20210326-nkorea-test-fire.jpg"/><figcaption>This picture taken on March 25, 2021 and released from North Korea&#x27;s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 26, 2021 shows a test fire of newly developed new-type tactical guided projectile in an undisclosed location in North Korea. <em>STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has tested a new &quot;tactical guided projectile&quot; with a solid-fuel engine, state media said Friday after the nuclear-armed country carried out its first substantive provocation since US President Joe Biden&#x27;s inauguration.</p><p>Pyongyang has a long history of using weapons tests to ramp up tensions, in a carefully calibrated process to try to forward its objectives.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/25/21/north-korea-fires-unidentified-projectile-into-sea-souths-military">North Korea fires &#x27;unidentified projectile&#x27; into sea: South&#x27;s military</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/25/21/n-korea-missile-test-casts-shadow-over-biden-administration-japan-olympics">N. Korea missile test casts shadow over Biden administration, Japan Olympics</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/13/21/north-koreas-kim-pledges-to-strengthen-nuclear-arsenal">North Korea&#x27;s Kim pledges to strengthen nuclear arsenal</a></li></ul><p>On Thursday it launched two weapons from its east coast, with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga calling them ballistic missiles.</p><p>Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its weapons programs, with UN Security Council resolutions banning it from developing ballistic missiles.</p><p>Biden told reporters that UN resolution 1718 &quot;was violated by those particular missiles that were tested&quot;.</p><p>Pyongyang had been biding its time since the new administration took office, not even officially acknowledging its existence until last week.</p><p>The US was &quot;consulting with our partners and allies&quot;, Biden said Thursday, warning North Korea that &quot;there will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearisation,&quot; he added.</p><div><strong>&#x27;NUCLEAR CAPABLE&#x27;</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/03/25/missiles.jpg"/><figcaption>Replicas of a North Korean Scud-B missile (C) and South Korea&#x27;s Hawk missiles are displayed at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul on March 24, 2021. <em>Jung Yeon-je / AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The firing was supervised by senior official Ri Pyong Chol, the official KCNA news agency reported, rather than leader Kim Jong Un.</p><p>It was successful with the two projectiles accurately hitting a target 600 kilometers (370 miles) into the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea, it added -- further than the 450 kilometers reported by South Korea&#x27;s military.</p><p>KCNA said the weapon could carry a payload of 2.5 tons, in a dispatch that avoided using the words &quot;missile&quot; or &quot;ballistic&quot;.</p><p>The test had confirmed the reliability of an improved solid fuel engine, KCNA added.</p><p>Pictures in Pyongyang&#x27;s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed grinning officers applauding after the launch from a vehicle, most of them not wearing masks.</p><p>Vipin Narang of MIT said it appeared to be a weapon that the North displayed at a military parade in January. </p><p>&quot;A 2.5 ton warhead likely settles the question whether this KN23 variant is nuclear capable. It is,&quot; he tweeted.</p><p>The test was &quot;of great significance in bolstering up the military power of the country&quot;, KCNA cited Ri as saying, &quot;and deterring all sorts of military threats existing on the Korean Peninsula&quot;.</p><p>The US stations 28,500 troops in the South to defend it against its neighbor, which invaded in 1950, while Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to deter a possible US invasion.</p><div><strong>&#x27;FAMILIAR PATTERN&#x27;</strong></div><p>As well as Biden, rebukes poured in from Germany, France and Britain which each condemned the tests as violations of UN Security Council resolutions.</p><p>At Washington&#x27;s request, the UN North Korea sanctions committee will meet Friday morning behind closed doors, according to diplomatic sources, although no public statement is expected.</p><p>Pyongyang has made rapid progress in its capabilities under North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, testing missiles capable of reaching the entire continental United States as tensions mounted in 2017.</p><p>Ex-US president Donald Trump&#x27;s first year in office was marked by a series of escalating launches, accompanied by a war of words between him and Kim.</p><p>The two then embarked on an extraordinary diplomatic bromance, holding two headline-grabbing summits in Singapore and Vietnam.</p><p>The United States pulled back on some joint military exercises with South Korea while the North froze intercontinental ballistic missile tests.</p><p>But the February 2019 Hanoi summit broke up over sanctions relief and what North Korea would be willing to give up in return.</p><p>Communications then dried up, despite a third encounter in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean peninsula, and no substantive progress was made towards denuclearization.</p><p>Pyongyang carried out a series of weapons tests last year that it called &quot;long-range artillery&quot; but others described as short-range ballistic missiles. </p><p>Trump &quot;had been willing to turn a blind eye to North Korea’s ballistic missile launches as long as they were not tests of long-range missiles&quot;, said Jean Lee of the Wilson Center in Washington.</p><p>&quot;But I suspect the Biden Administration will confront any confirmed ballistic missile launches that violate UN Security Council resolutions.&quot;</p><div><strong>ASIA OUTREACH</strong></div><p>Thursday&#x27;s launch, and an earlier test of short-range, non-ballistic missiles at the weekend, came after joint exercises by the US and South Korean militaries and a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.</p><p>During their trip to Seoul and Tokyo, Blinken repeatedly stressed the importance of denuclearizing North Korea.</p><p>Biden administration officials say they have sought to reach out to Pyongyang through several channels but have received no response so far.</p><p>kjk/slb/bfm</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rfL-hfTTFis?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><div><br/> </div>

<p>SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has tested a new "tactical guided projectile" with a solid-fuel engine, state media said Friday after the nuclear-armed country carried out its first substantive provocation since US President Joe Biden's inauguration.</p>

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has tested a new "tactical guided projectile" with a solid-fuel engine, state media said Friday after the nuclear-armed country carried out its first substantive provocation since US President Joe Biden's inauguration.

N. Korea launch was new 'tactical guided projectile': Pyongyang

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N. Korea launch was new 'tactical guided projectile': Pyongyang

Sebastien Berger,

Agence France-Presse

Published March 26, 2021 08:16 AM PHT

Read More:

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kim jong un

south korea

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tactical guided projectile

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