South Korean President is calling on the DPRK authorities to abandon their reckless provocations and sit down at the negotiating table. This was reported by the Yonhap news agency. According to the report, Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile once again for the first time since September 15.
Now, our special correspondent Darya Kozlova is in direct communication with our studio from Seoul.
- Darya, hello! Has Seoul already conducted its own tests in response to the DPRK’s launch? What other response measures is South Korea taking?
- Yes, hello! Today, the South Korean President held a series of unplanned meetings and negotiations, during which the last launch was discussed. At 6 am local time, an emergency meeting of the National Security Council was held. It was attended by the President, key ministers, and representatives of the military. Following the meeting, the President of South Korea made an official statement in which he condemned the North Korean missile launch.
Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea: "North Korea launched a ballistic missile again. Such actions not only increase tension on the Korean Peninsula but also seriously threaten the security of the world. We strongly condemn Pyongyang for such reckless behavior. Obviously, we have only one course of action before us, to strengthen sanctions against the DPRK".
Darya Kozlova: Also today, telephone conversations between the presidents of South Korea and the US took place. They called the North Korean campaign reckless and provocative, but, nevertheless, Donald Trump said that nothing will change in the approach to solving the North Korean problem after the last launch.
I’d like to add that Seoul seems to have been ready for this missile launch. A few hours before the tests began, before the launch of the missiles began, the radar detected increased activity on one of the North Korean bases. As a result, South Korean experts suggested that this could be the preparation for or a test of the missile systems operation. The South Korean military personnel were also ready.
The exercise began five minutes after the North Korean missile launch. Three training launches were carried out with the use of missiles of different classes, ranging from 57 to 1,000 kilometers. Apparently, this was done in order to show that Seoul can respond immediately. In addition, there is already some information out on what kind of rocket Pyongyang launched today. Apparently, this was a Hwasong-14 type missile, an intercontinental two-stage ballistic missile, which was tested last July. Even back then, in July, the missile flew 933 kilometers.
Today, its range has been increased, and the missile traveled as far as 960 kilometers. The maximum height reached was 4,500 meters. The rocket fell in Japan's exclusive economic zone, 250 kilometers off the coast. The Japanese authorities report that they didn’t use the missile interception systems since this wasn’t necessary. It’s worth mentioning that this is the first launch from Pyongyang since September 15 this year, and Pyongyang's military inactivity has already been dubbed a "silence regime," but it’s still difficult to say why Pyongyang decided to break this silence regime right now. Pavel?
- Thank you, Darya. Our special correspondent Darya Kozlova was in direct communication with us from Seoul.
