Russia placed its Far East air defense into operational readiness after the DPRK launched a ballistic missile. It is noteworthy that the third unsuccessful test took place last night just a few hours after the end of the UN Security Council meeting, where they were deciding how to control missile and nuclear ambitions of Pyongyang. Our special correspondent in the region, Alisa Romanova, will tell us about the reaction to this launch.

All Saturday news programs in South Korea begin their releases with this event. At 5.30 a.m. the missile was launched from the province of Phenan-Namdo in the northeast direction. Apparently, there was an explosion a few seconds after the launch. This is the data from Seoul. The maximum flight level was 71 km. This ballistic missile launch is the third provocation in April. We strongly condemn it, because it is a clear violation of the UN resolution and a serious threat to the security on the Korean Peninsula and in the world.

Sources in the US report that the missile was launched, it is unknown how far it got, and it was launched from a mobile launcher, and fell in the Sea of Japan. US nuclear-powered carrier Carl Vinson is about to enter it. Fox News specified that it flew 40 kilometers. The US military added that it was probably a medium-range solid-fuel missile of the KN17 type.





According to CNN, it flew a few hundred miles. South Korean experts don’t exclude the fact that it was a ballistic missile with an increased flight range. According to the Pacific Command of the US Armed Forces, which is quoted by the Korean media, it never left the airspace of the DPRK and landed about 35 kilometers away from the Pukchang airbase. Donald Trump reacted with a tweet immediately after the launch. During one hundred days of his presidency, this is the ninth launch of the North Korean missiles.

North Korea disrespected the wishes of China and its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad! The official reaction immediately came from Tokyo. There, they stopped all the metro lines for 10 minutes. Japan expressed its protests to North Korea and confirmed that the missile apparently fell on the territory of the DPRK. Speaking of the ballistic missile launch, it is clear that this is a direct violation of the UN Security Council resolution. We can’t allow a repetition of these constant North Korean provocations. We express a strong protest to the DPRK in connection with these launches.

The launch took place a few hours after the UN Security Council ended the meeting in New York. The meeting was exclusively about the DPRK and its nuclear program. Head of Chinese diplomacy Wang Yi said that the situation was at a critical point. Tokyo, Seoul, and Washington called this launch a provocation. It was expected from Pyongyang and everyone was warned of it. The rocket was launched two weeks after another unsuccessful test and in the atmosphere of rumors that the DPRK was preparing their sixth nuclear tests.

According to many news agencies, this missile launch by the DPRK may accelerate the introduction of new economic sanctions.