Unic Press UK: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned the launch of a ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), reiterating his earlier call for DPRK leadership to engage the Republic of Korea’s government in dialogue by reopening communication channels to mitigate risks and reduce tensions in the Korean peninsula.
In a message issued on his behalf by his spokesman, António Guterres said:
“This is again a manifest violation of Security Council resolutions. The DPRK leadership must comply fully with its international obligations and work together with the international community to resolve the outstanding issues on the Korean Peninsula”
The initial assessment illustrates that North Korean military had fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the United States and the South Korean government said.
“The Defense Department detected and tracked a single North Korea missile launch today at about 10:41 a.m. EDT, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said today in a statement. The department believes the missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile, as had been expected, Davis said. Davis said the missile was launched from Mupyong-ni, and traveled about 620 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. The Defense Department, he added, is working with its interagency partners on a more detailed assessment”. (North American Aerospace Defense Command: 28th July 2017)
The findings of the U.S. military and the South Korean military on the latest missile launch is contrary to the position held by the Russian military that a missile that was launched by DPRK on Friday was an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) as reported by RT.
