23 June 2016

News Story: S. Korea denounces DPRK's Musudan missile launch as violation of UN resolutions

SEOUL, June 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Wednesday denounced the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s test-launches of two missiles, which were believed to be intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missiles, as it violated UN Security Council resolutions banning any test of Pyongyang's ballistic missile technology.

Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told a press briefing that all DPRK launches of projectiles using ballistic missile technology were in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, saying that the Wednesday launches were clear provocations against South Korea.

The DPRK test-fired what was believed to be a Musudan missile at 8:05 a.m. local time from its Wonsan area in the east coast, about two hours after launching another missile near the area, according to Seoul's defense ministry.

The second missile launched in the day flew about 400 km, nearing to a required distance to be considered successful in test-firings.

Seoul's military believed that an intermediate-range ballistic missile can be successful only when flying at least 300 km. Yonhap reported that the minimum flight range of such missile should reach at least 500 km, but it was launched at a high angle with a possible aim to intentionally lessen the flight distance.

Read the full story at Xinhua