At least eleven countries including United States have condemned the North Korea’s renewed missile test over the weekend.
North Korea had on Saturday fired a single ballistic missile into waters off the east of the Korean Peninsula, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the country’s ninth such test of the year.
“The South Korean military is maintaining a readiness posture by monitoring related movements in preparation for additional launches,” JCS said in a statement.
Condemning the launch, the U.S., Albania, Australia, Brazil, France, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea and Britain in a joint statement released Monday, noted that Pyongyang “violated multiple Security Council resolutions.’’
The council resolutions with its March 5, launch of what they characterised as a ballistic missile.
The UN Security Council was also criticized by the countries, saying it “continues to remain silent’’ as North Korea escalates its destabilising actions.
“Each ballistic missile launch that results in inaction by the Council erodes the credibility of the UN Security Council itself in addressing the DPRK and undermines the global non-proliferation regime,’’ the joint statement read.
However, North Korea said that the launch, which came just four days before South Korea’s presidential election, was part of the development of a “reconnaissance satellite.’’
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea, a self-declared nuclear power, from testing ballistic missiles, some of which can carry a nuclear warhead.
