North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for more ballistic missiles to be launched into the Pacific a day after it flew a missile designed to carry a nuclear payload over Japan, state media reported.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Wednesday that Kim expressed great satisfaction with the launch, calling it a “meaningful prelude” to containing Guam, the U.S. Pacific territory and military hub.
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“The current ballistic rocket launching drill like a real war is the first step of the military operation of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
READ MORE: Blaring sirens sound in Japan, Guam readies residents amid North Korea’s missile tests
KCNA said Kim said the country needs to conduct more ballistic missile tests to the Pacific to advance the capabilities of its strategic force.
Kim was present during the launch, saying the drill was in direct counter to the joint military exercises by South Korean and U.S. militaries, Reuters reported.
The agency reported the missile North Korea fired Tuesday was the Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile.
North Korea threatened to fire four Hwasong-12 missiles into the sea near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam earlier this month after U.S. President Donald Trump said the country would face “fire and fury” if it threatened the United States.
Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland criticized North Korea’s latest missile test as a threat to world peace, and urged a diplomatic solution to the escalating nuclear crisis.
“These are things that endanger not just regional stability but world peace,” Trudeau said in French as he hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah in Ottawa.
“This is an issue that is of concern to us daily and we will continue day by day to continue what we need to do keep Canadians safe.”
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The U.N. Security Council says it ‘strongly condemns’ North Korea’s missile launch over Japan and is reiterating demands for Pyongyang to halt its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.
The U.N.’s most powerful body approved the statement after an emergency meeting Tuesday on the missile test, calling North Korea’s actions “outrageous.”
The test came less than a month after the council imposed its toughest-yet sanctions on North Korea.
The statement doesn’t discuss any potential new sanctions but calls for strict implementation of existing ones. The council also says it’s committed to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation.
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*with files from Reuters
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