President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in. File photoSEUL, Jan 30President Moon Jae-in at a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on Sunday hinted at the possibility of a long-range missile launch by the DPRK in the near future and said that North Korea is close to violating its own moratorium on launching such missiles and conducting nuclear tests, the presidential press release said. administration. The South Korean military on Sunday reported that the DPRK launched one, presumably, a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan from the area of the North Korean province of Chagangdo. The flight range was approximately 800 kilometers, the highest flight altitude was two thousand kilometers.The President of South Korea called the launch of the DPRK missile a violation of UN Security Council resolutions «North Korea has so far observed a moratorium on nuclear tests and launches of ICBMs, expressing its readiness for dialogue, but if it really launched a medium-range ballistic missile, we can consider that we are closer to lifting the moratorium «, the president said. He noted that in 2017, the DPRK's launch of medium-range ballistic missiles was followed by launches of ICBMs. Then they were also produced from the province of Chagando. This is the seventh test of the DPRK's weapons in January. On January 5 and 11, North Korea tested hypersonic missiles. Then both times the launches were also made from the province of Chagando. On January 14, two short-range ballistic missiles were launched from a railway missile system. On January 17 and 27, the DPRK tested short-range tactical guided missiles. Also on January 25, two long-range cruise missiles were launched, which, unlike ballistic missile tests, does not violate UN Security Council resolutions. Earlier in January, Kim Jong-un ordered, due to Washington's hostile policy, to review the confidence-building measures taken by Pyongyang with the United States » on its own initiative» and to explore the resumption of «all temporarily suspended activities.» A number of media and experts interpreted this statement as an intention, in the face of a deadlocked dialogue with the United States, to end the moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, which it has voluntarily adhered to since late 2017.
Japanese PM convenes National Security Council meeting after North Korean missile launch
