Tag Archives: ballistic missile

North Korea tests another ICBM, claims all of U.S. in strike range

Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-14 is pictured during its second test-fire in this undated picture provided by KCNA in Pyongyang on July 29, 2017. KCNA via Reuters

By Jack Kim and Idrees Ali

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea said on Saturday it had conducted another successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that proved its ability to strike America’s mainland, drawing a sharp warning from U.S. President Donald Trump and a rebuke from China.

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally supervised the midnight launch of the missile on Friday night and said it was a “stern warning” for the United States that it would not be safe from destruction if it tries to attack, the North’s official KCNA news agency said.

North Korea’s state television broadcast pictures of the launch, showing the missile lifting off in a fiery blast in darkness and Kim cheering with military aides.

“The test-fire reconfirmed the reliability of the ICBM system, demonstrated the capability of making a surprise launch of the ICBM in any region and place any time, and clearly proved that the whole U.S. mainland is in the firing range of the DPRK missiles, (Kim) said with pride,” KCNA said.

DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The launch comes less than a month after the North conducted its first ICBM test in defiance of years of efforts led by the United States, South Korea and Japan to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

The North conducted its fourth and fifth nuclear tests last year and has engaged in an unprecedented pace of missile development that experts said significantly advanced its ability to launch longer-range ballistic missiles.

“By threatening the world, these weapons and tests further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy, and deprive its people,” Trump said in a statement. “The United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and protect our allies in the region.”

China, the North’s main ally, said it opposed North Korea’s “launch activities that run counter to Security Council resolutions and the common wishes of the international community.”

A foreign ministry statement added: “At the same time, China hopes all parties act with caution, to prevent tensions from continuing to escalate, to jointly protect regional peace and stability.”

Early on Saturday, the United States and South Korea conducted a live-fire ballistic missile exercise in a display of firepower in response to the missile launch, the U.S. and South Korean militaries said.

ALL OPTIONS

The Trump administration has said that all options are on the table to deal with North Korea. However it has also made clear that diplomacy and sanctions are its preferred course.

The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and the United States held separate phone calls and agreed to step up strategic deterrence against the North and push for a stronger U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution, the South and Japan said.

South Korea has also said it will proceed with the deployment of four additional units of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile defense system that President Moon Jae-in has earlier delayed for an environmental assessment.

Moon, who has pledged to engage the North in dialogue but was snubbed by Pyongyang recently over his proposal to hold cross-border military talks, said Seoul will also seek to expand its missile capabilities.

China’s Foreign Ministry expressed serious concern about the announced move on THAAD, saying it will only make things more complex. Beijing opposes the missile defense system because its power radars can look deep into China.

“We strongly urge South Korea and the United States to face squarely China’s concerns about its interests, stop the relevant deployment process and withdraw the related equipment,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The missile test came a day after the U.S. Senate approved a package of sanctions on North Korea, Russia and Iran. Trump is ready to sign the bill, the White House said on Friday.

The sanctions are likely to include measures aimed at Chinese financial institutions that do business with North Korea. Washington has also proposed a new round of U.N. sanctions on North Korea following its July 4 ICBM test.

“RELIABLE ICBM BY YEAR-END”

In Friday’s test, North Korea’s Hwasong-14 missile, named after the Korean word for Mars, reached an altitude of 3,724.9 km and flew 998 km for 47 minutes and 12 seconds before landing in the waters off the Korean peninsula’s east coast, KCNA said.

Western experts said the flight was an improvement on North Korea’s first test of an ICBM.

The flight demonstrated successful stage separation, reliability of the vehicle’s control and guidance to allow the warhead to make an atmospheric re-entry under conditions harsher than under a normal long-range trajectory, KCNA said.

The trajectory was in line with the estimates given by the South Korean, U.S. and Japanese militaries, which said the missile was believed to be an ICBM-class rocket.

Independent weapons experts said the launch demonstrated many parts of the United States were within range if the missile had been launched at a flattened trajectory.

The U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists said its calculations showed the missile could have been capable of going as far into the United States as Denver and Chicago.

David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists wrote in a blog post that if it had flown on a standard trajectory, the missile would have had a range of 10,400 km (6,500 miles).

Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated a range of at least 9,500 km and said the window for a diplomatic solution with North Korea “is closing rapidly.”

“The key here is that North Korea has a second successful test in less than one month,” he said. “If this trend holds, they could establish an acceptably reliable ICBM before year’s end.”

(The story fixes garble in para 18)

(Additional reporting by Christine Kim in Seoul, Kaori Kaneko, Elaine Lies and William Mallard in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, David Brunnstrom in Washington and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Japan joins U.S. in imposing new sanctions on North Korea

FILE PHOTO: Men walk past a street monitor showing news of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile test in Tokyo, Japan, July 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will freeze the assets of five organizations and nine individuals linked to North Korea, including two Chinese entities, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday, outlining new sanctions against the isolated state.

Japan’s announcement came just hours after the U.S. Senate also voted for new sanctions on North Korea, which followed U.S. media reports this week that intelligence officials had assessed that Pyongyang would be able to field a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by next year, earlier than previously thought.

The U.S. sanctions also include measures aimed at Chinese financial institutions, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

China’s foreign ministry denounced Japan’s decision as unacceptable and “wrong.”

“We are resolutely opposed to any country implementing any unilateral sanctions outside the UN Security Council framework, especially those targeting Chinese enterprises and individuals,” ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a daily press briefing.

“If Japan insists on doing this it will create major political obstacles for cooperation between China and Japan on the Korean Peninsula issue,” he added.

Kishida told reporters that given the increasing threat posed by North Korea’s missiles and the fact that no concrete proposals have been made to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted decades ago by agents from the North, the steps had to be taken.

“Given that we can’t expect meaningful dialogue, increasing pressure on them is essential,” he said.

Japan will be taking steps to freeze the assets of five groups, including two from China, as well as nine individuals, Kishida said.

He added that no further details would be made available until various “administrative procedures” had been carried out, but Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that the groups had “engaged in activities prohibited by a U.N. Security council resolution.”

Kishida said Japan had been in contact with key allies such as the United States and South Korea, but gave no further details.

North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and the Security Council has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear weapons tests and a series of missile launches.

The United States is seeking further sanctions after North Korea tested a missile this month that was believed to be an ICBM. U.S. officials said on Tuesday they had seen increased activity at a site in the western city of Kusong that could be preparations for another missile test within days.

(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in TOKYO and Philip Wen in BEIJING, writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

China says ‘China responsibility theory’ on North Korea has to stop

The intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 is seen in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang July 5, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters) – China hit back on Tuesday in unusually strong terms at repeated calls from the United States to put more pressure on North Korea, urging a halt to what it called the “China responsibility theory”, and saying all parties needed to pull their weight.

U.S President Trump took a more conciliatory tone at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, but he has expressed some impatience that China, with its close economic and diplomatic ties to Pyongyang, is not doing enough to rein in North Korea.

That feeling has become particularly acute since Pyongyang launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that some experts believe could have the range to reach Alaska, and parts of the U.S. West Coast.

Asked about calls from the United States, Japan and others for China to put more pressure on North Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said it was not China ratcheting up tension and the key to a resolution did not lie with Beijing.

“Recently, certain people, talking about the Korean peninsula nuclear issue, have been exaggerating and giving prominence to the so-called ‘China responsibility theory,'” Geng told a daily news briefing, without naming any parties.

“I think this either shows lack of a full, correct knowledge of the issue, or there are ulterior motives for it, trying to shift responsibility,” he added.

China has been making unremitting efforts and has played a constructive role, but all parties have to meet each other half way, Geng said.

“Asking others to do work, but doing nothing themselves is not OK,” he added. “Being stabbed in the back is really not OK.”

While China has been angered by North Korea’s repeated nuclear and missile tests, it also blames the United States and South Korea for worsening tension with their military exercises.

China has been upset with the U.S. deployment of an advanced anti-missile system in South Korea too, which it says threatens its own security and will do nothing to ease tensions.

Additionally, Beijing has complained about Washington putting unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals for their dealings with North Korea.

Geng questioned how China’s efforts could bear fruit if, while it tried to put out the flames, others added oil to the fire, and if, while it enforced U.N. resolutions, others harmed its interests.

Everyone needed to accept their responsibilities to get the North Korea issue back on the correct track of a peaceful resolution through talks, he added.

“The ‘China responsibility theory’ on the peninsula nuclear issue can stop,” Geng said.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Trump pledges to act on North Korean threat

U.S. President Donald Trump gives a public speech in front of the Warsaw Uprising Monument at Krasinski Square in Warsaw, Poland July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton

WARSAW (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront North Korea “very strongly” following its latest missile test and urged nations to show Pyongyang that there would be consequences for its weapons program.

North Korea on Tuesday test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that some experts believe has the range to reach the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii and perhaps the U.S. Pacific Northwest. North Korea said it could carry a large nuclear warhead.

Speaking at a news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, Trump said Korea was “a threat, and we will confront it very strongly”.

He said the United States was considering “severe things” for North Korea, but that he would not draw a “red line” of the kind that his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, had drawn but not enforced on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Trump added: “… they are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner and something will have to be done.”

The issue presents Trump, who took office in January, with perhaps his biggest foreign policy challenge. It has put pressure on his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom Trump had pressed without success to rein in Pyongyang.

The United States said on Wednesday that it was ready to use force if necessary to stop North Korea’s nuclear missile program. But China on Thursday called for restraint and made clear it did not want to be targeted by U.S. sanctions.

Meeting in Germany ahead of a G20 summit, Xi told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that “China upholds the denuclearization of the peninsula, maintaining its peace and stability, resolving the issue via dialogue and consultation, and that all sides strictly abide by relevant resolutions of the U.N. Security Council”, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

And Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said that, while China would implement relevant U.N. resolutions, “the U.S. should not use their domestic laws as excuses to levy sanctions against Chinese financial institutions”.

“BAD BEHAVIOR”

Trump flew on to Hamburg on Thursday to attend the summit, and was due to meet with Xi there.

His frustration that Beijing has not done more to clamp down on North Korea prompted him to tweet on Wednesday: “Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us – but we had to give it a try!”

Trump did not mention China specifically in his remarks in Poland, but his message that other countries needed to do more was clearly meant for Beijing.

“President Duda and I call on all nations to confront this global threat and publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences for their very, very bad behavior,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that the United States would propose new U.N. sanctions in coming days, and that if Russia and China did not support the move, then “we will go our own path”.

Some diplomats say Beijing has not been fully enforcing existing international sanctions on its neighbor and has resisted tougher measures, such as an oil embargo, bans on the North Korean airline and guest workers, and measures against Chinese banks and other firms doing business with the North.

U.S. officials have said the United States might specifically seek unilaterally to sanction more Chinese companies that do business with North Korea, especially banks – echoing a tactic it used to pressurize to Iran to curb its nuclear program.

South Korean presidential spokesman Park Su-hyun gave a somewhat different account of the Xi-Moon meeting. He told reporters that the two men had agreed North Korea’s missile test was “unforgivable”, and had discussed stepping up pressure and sanctions.

(This story has been refiled to make explicit that Trump was speaking in paragraph 5)

(additional reporting by Marcin Goettig; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

South Korea finds apparent North Korean drone near border

A small aircraft what South Korea's Military said is believed to be a North Korean drone, is seen at a mountain near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Inje, South Korea in this handout picture provided by the Defence Ministry and released by News1 on June 9, 2017. The Defence Ministry/News1 via REUTERS

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea has found what appears to be a North Korean drone equipped with a camera on a mountain near its border with the isolated nation, the South’s military said on Friday, suggesting the device was on a spying mission.

Its appearance a day after Pyongyang tested a new type of anti-ship missile on Thursday, could spark questions about the state of South Korea’s air defenses at a time when Seoul is trying to rein in the North’s nuclear and missile programs.

In size and shape, the device looked like a North Korean drone found in 2014 on an island near the border, South Korea’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding that authorities plan to conduct a close analysis.

“The drone found this time looks sloppy but slightly more slender than previous ones,” a South Korean military official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The device would be the latest of several North Korean drones to have flown into the South, with which Pyongyang is technically at war after the Korean war ended in a truce, rather than a peace treaty, in 1953.

In 2014, South Korea said three unmanned drones from North Korea were found in border towns.

A joint investigation by South Korean and U.S. militaries has concluded the craft were on reconnaissance missions for the North, which has denied sending spy drones, however, dismissing the findings as a fabrication.

Last year, South Korea fired warning shots at a suspected North Korean drone, forcing it to turn back.

North Korea owns around 300 unmanned aerial vehicles of different types including reconnaissance, target and combat drones, the United Nations said in a report last year.

The North Korean drones recovered in South Korea were probably procured through front companies in China, with parts manufactured in China, the Czech Republic, Japan and the United States, it added.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Clarence Fernandez)

North Korea fires suspected land-to-ship missiles as South Korea delays THAAD

A South Korean soldier walks past a TV broadcast of a news report on North Korea firing what appeared to be several land-to-ship missiles off its east coast, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, June 8, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

By Ju-min Park and Soyoung Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired what appeared to be several land-to-ship missiles off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, a day after the South postponed full deployment of a controversial U.S. anti-missile system designed to deter a North Korean attack.

The launches, the latest in a fast-paced series of missile tests defying world pressure to rein in its weapons program, come less than a week after the United Nations Security Council passed fresh sanctions on the reclusive state.

South Korea on Wednesday said it will hold off on installing remaining components of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system that has angered North Korea’s main ally, China, amid early signs of easing tensions between the two countries.

The missiles were launched Thursday morning from the North Korean coastal city of Wonsan and flew about 200 km (124 miles), South Korea’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

Under third-generation leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea has been conducting missile tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.

Compared to the different types of ballistic missiles Pyongyang has recently tested, the missiles launched on Thursday are considered to be more defensive in nature, designed to defend against threats such as enemy warships.

North Korea unveiled a number of new weapons at a massive military parade on April 15 to mark the birth anniversary of the state’s founding leader and has since tested some of them.

“What appeared to be a new type of land-to-ship missile equipped with four launching canisters was unveiled at the parade,” said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University’s Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. “I think this might be what was used today.”

THAAD DEFENSE DELAYED

Thursday’s launch is the fourth missile test by North Korea since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office on May 10 pledging to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang. Moon says sanctions and pressure alone have failed to resolve the growing threat from the North’s advancing nuclear and missile program.

Moon had also promised to review the deployment of the THAAD system in South Korea, a decision that was made by the government of his conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye. On Wednesday, Moon’s office said installation of four additional launchers would be halted until an assessment of the system’s impact on the environment was completed.

Two launchers of the full six-launcher THAAD battery, as well as the system’s far-reaching radar that China worries could upset the regional security balance, have already been installed at a deployment site in the southeastern city of Seongju. The elements will stay in place, South Korea said.

The introduction of the THAAD system has sparked protests in South Korea and a backlash in China against South Korean business interests.

The Global Times, published by China’s official People’s Daily, said in an editorial that no matter the outcome of the environmental study, South Korea’s announcement could reduce friction.

“Obviously, the pressure China puts on South Korea has taken effect. Seoul’s will has been shaken,” the paper said. “However, attitude is not everything. Without solving the problem of THAAD, the pain it has brought to bilateral relations will not disappear, and South Korea must swallow some of the bitter results.”

China should work with Russia on counter-measures to THAAD, the Global Times added.

Asked about the latest missile test, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called for all parties to exercise restraint.

“The UN Security Council resolution has clear rules on (North Korea’s) use of ballistic missiles technologies,” she said. “All sides should work together to de-escalate tensions and take active steps to stabilize the region.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing China aggressively to rein in North Korea, warning that all options, including a pre-emptive military strike, are on the table if Pyongyang persists with its nuclear and missile development.

Seoul, Tokyo and Washington were analyzing the launches for further information, officials said.

Japan’s navy and air force conducted military drills with two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan last week, following similar joint U.S.-South Korea exercises.

“North Korea likely wanted to show off its ability to precisely target a large warship, in relation to the joint military drills involving U.S. aircraft carriers,” Roh Jae-cheon, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman, told a media briefing.

“By testing different types of missiles, North Korea also appears to be aiming to secure the upper hand in relations with South Korea and the United States.”

The isolated country, which has conducted dozens of missile tests and tested two nuclear bombs since the beginning of 2016 in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, says the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

(Additional reporting by Christine Kim in SEOUL, and Christian Shepherd and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Pentagon successfully tests ICBM defense system for first time

The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the U.S. ballistic missile defense system launches during a flight test from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, U.S., May 30, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

By Phil Stewart and Lucy Nicholson

WASHINGTON/VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (Reuters) – The U.S. military on Tuesday cheered a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a program meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat.

The U.S. military fired an ICBM-type missile from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters just south of Alaska. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Experts compare the job to hitting a bullet with another bullet and note the complexity is magnified by the enormous distances involved.

The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), managed by Boeing Co <BA.N>, and hailed it as an “incredible accomplishment.”

“This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat,” Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the agency, said in a statement.

A successful test was by no means guaranteed and the Pentagon sought to manage expectations earlier in the day, noting that the United States had multiple ways to try to shoot down a missile from North Korea.

“This is one element of a broader missile defense strategy that we can use to employ against potential threats,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.

Prior to Tuesday’s launch, the GMD system had successfully hit its target in only nine of 17 tests since 1999. The last test was in 2014.

North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests over the past year in its effort to develop an ICBM that can strike the U.S. mainland.

The continental United States is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or farther.

Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, described the test as “vital” prior to launch.

“We are replicating our ability to defend the United States of America from North Korea, today,” Ellison said.

Failure could have deepened concern about a program that according to one estimate has so far cost more than $40 billion. Its success could translate into calls by Congress to speed development.

In the fiscal year 2018 budget proposal sent to Congress last week, the Pentagon requested $7.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, including about $1.5 billion for the GMD program.

A 2016 assessment released by the Pentagon’s weapons testing office in January said that U.S. ground-based interceptors meant to knock out any incoming ICBM still had low reliability, giving the system a limited capability of shielding the United States.

(Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and James Dalgleish)

Exclusive: Kim’s rocket stars – The trio behind North Korea’s missile program

FILE PHOTO : North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the intermediate-range ballistic missile Pukguksong-2's launch test with Ri Pyong Chol (2nd L in black uniform) and Jang Chang Ha (R) in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 22, 2017. REUTERS/KCNA/File Photo

By Ju-min Park and James Pearson

SEOUL (Reuters) – After successful missile launches, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un often exchanges smiles and hugs with the same three men and shares a celebratory smoke with them.

The three, shown with Kim in photographs and TV footage in North Korean media, are of great interest to Western security and intelligence agencies since they are the top people in the secretive country’s rapidly accelerating missile program.

They include Ri Pyong Chol, a former top air force general; Kim Jong Sik, a veteran rocket scientist; and Jang Chang Ha, the head of a weapons development and procurement center.

The photographs and TV footage show that the three are clearly Kim’s favorites. Their behavior with him is sharply at variance with the obsequiousness of other senior aides, most of whom bow and hold their hands over their mouths when speaking to the young leader.

Unlike most other officials, two of them have flown with Kim in his private plane Goshawk-1, named after North Korea’s national bird, state TV has shown.

With their ruling Workers Party, military and scientific credentials, the trio is indispensable to North Korea’s rapidly developing weapons programs – the isolated nation has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile launches since the beginning of last year, all in violation of U.N. resolutions.

“Rather than going through bureaucrats, Kim Jong Un is keeping these technocrats right by his side, so that he can contact them directly and urge them to move fast. It reflects his urgency about missile development,” said An Chan-il, a former North Korean military officer who has defected to the South and runs a think tank in Seoul.

Kim Jong Sik and Jang are not from elite families, unlike many other senior figures in North Korea’s ruling class, North Korean leadership experts say. They said Ri, the former air force commander, has been to one of the better-regarded schools in North Korea, but he and the other two were hand-picked by Kim Jong Un.

“Kim Jong Un is raising a new generation of people separate from his father’s key aides,” said a South Korean official with knowledge of the matter, referring to Kim Jong Il, who died in late 2011 leaving the younger Kim in charge.

The official requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

THE ‘BIG POTATO’

The most prominent of the three is Ri, according to leadership experts.

Always shown smiling in photographs, he is now deputy director of the Workers’ Party Munitions Industry Department, which oversees the development of North Korea’s ballistic missile program, according to the South Korean government and U.S. Treasury.

The department was blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury in 2010 and Ri was named by the South Korean government last year for activities related to the country’s weapons programs.

“The big potato in that trio of people is Ri Pyong Chol,” said Michael Madden, an expert on the North Korean leadership. “He’s been around since before Kim Jong Un was even talked about with any seriousness”.

Born in 1948, Ri was partly educated in Russia and promoted when Kim Jong Un started to rise through the ranks in the late 2000s, Madden and the South Korean government official said.

Ri has visited China once and Russia twice. He met China’s defense minister in 2008 as the air force commander and accompanied Kim Jong Il on a visit to a Russian fighter jet factory in 2011, according to state media.

“Ri looks like the party’s guy in the missile program,” said Kim Jin-moo, an expert on North Korea’s elite and former government think tank analyst in Seoul.

THE ROCKET SCIENTIST

The rocket scientist in the trio is Kim Jong Sik.

He started his career as a civilian aeronautics technician, but now wears the uniform of a military general at the Munitions Industry Department, according to experts and the South Korean government.

But it was his role in the North Korea’s first successful launch of a rocket in 2012 which really helped him earn recognition, Madden said.

“When that thing went off and entered into a lower earth orbit, he got credit for that,” said Madden. “The nuclear and missile guys under Kim Jong Un are getting their jobs based on merit”.

Last year, Kim Jong Sik was at the National Aerospace Development Administration or “NADA”, North Korea’s official space agency, where he escorted Kim Jong Un through the mission control room ahead of a successful long-range rocket launch in February.

State TV footage showed him riding to a launch site in Kim Jong Un’s private plane. Upon arrival, he accompanied the young leader down the red carpet and received flowers from other senior officials.

Most other details, including his age, are not known.

THE MYSTERY MAN

Of the three men, the least is known about Jang Chang Ha, president of the Academy of the National Defence Science, previously called the Second Academy of Natural Sciences.

The body is in charge of the secretive country’s research and development of its advanced weapons systems, “including missiles and probably nuclear weapons”, the U.S. Treasury said in 2010 in its decision to blacklist the group.

The organization obtains technology, equipment, and information from overseas for use in weapons programs, the Treasury said. Jang was added to the Treasury blacklist in December 2016.

Under Jang’s leadership, the academy has around 15,000 staff, including some 3,000 missile engineers, according to South Korean media reports, citing unnamed sources.

North Korea’s banned weapons program began in the early 2000s with a similar trio of men close to the leadership who specialized in procurement, science and military affairs.

Of them, logistician Jon Pyong Ho has died. The others – scientist So Sang Guk and military coordinator O Kuk Ryol – are elderly and no longer in the public eye.

Their place, Madden said, has been taken by Kim Jong Un’s hand-picked men.

“These are the men bringing North Korea’s missile program into the 21st Century.” he said.

(Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in WASHINGTON; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Iran says it has built third underground ballistic missile factory

FILE PHOTO: An Iranian national flag flutters in Tehran April 15, 2011. REUTERS/STR/File Photo

By Parisa Hafezi

ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran has built a third underground ballistic missile production factory and will keep developing its missile program, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted a senior commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard as saying.

The development is likely to fuel tensions with the United States in a week when President Donald Trump, on his first foreign trip, has called Iran a sponsor of militant groups and a threat to countries across the Middle East.

“Iran’s third underground factory has been built by the Guards in recent years … We will continue to further develop our missile capabilities forcefully,” Fars quoted Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Guard’s airspace division, as saying.

Since taking office in January, Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran in response to its recent missile launches, putting Tehran “on notice”.

Iran has reacted defiantly. Newly re-elected pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday: “Iran does not need the permission of the United States to conduct missile tests”.

Iran’s Sunni Muslim Gulf neighbors and its arch-enemy Israel have expressed concerns over Tehran’s ballistic missile program, seeing it as a threat to regional security.

In 2015, Iranian state TV aired footage of underground tunnels with ready-to-fire missiles on the back of trucks, saying the facility was one of hundreds of underground missile bases around the country.

“It is natural that our enemies America and the Zionist regime (Israel) are angry with our missile program because they want Iran to be in a weak position,” Hajizadeh said.

Most nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were lifted last year after Tehran fulfilled commitments under a 2015 deal with major powers to scale back its nuclear program – an agreement that Trump has frequently criticized as being too soft on Tehran. But Iran remains subject to a U.N. arms embargo and other restrictions.

Two months after implementation of the deal, the Guards test-fired two ballistic missiles that it said were designed to be able to hit Israel.

Iran says its missile program is not in defiance with a U.N. resolution that calls on it to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years.

“Along with improving our defense capabilities, we will continue our missile tests and missile production. The next missile to be produced is a surface-to-surface missile,” said Hajizadeh, without elaborating.

In retaliation for the new U.S. sanctions over its ballistic missile program, Iran this month added nine American individuals and companies to its own list of 15 U.S. companies for alleged human rights violations and cooperation with Israel.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

South Korea fires at suspected drone at border with North amid missile crisis

Ballistic rocket is seen launching during a drill by the Hwasong artillery units of the KPA Strategic Force, July 2016. KCNA/via REUTERS

By Ju-min Park and Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s military fired warning shots at a suspected drone from North Korea on Tuesday amid tension over Pyongyang’s latest missile test which drew international condemnation and a warning from China.

The identity of the object remained unclear, the military said, but Yonhap news agency said it was possibly a drone, more than 90 shots were fired in return and it disappeared from radar screens.

The incursion came with tension already high on the Korean peninsula after the North’s test-launch of a ballistic missile test on Sunday which Pyongyang said proved advances in its pursuit of building a nuclear-tipped weapon that can hit U.S. targets.

The United States has been trying to persuade China, North Korea’s lone major ally, to do more to rein in North Korea, which has conducted dozens of missile launches and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of last year, in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and resolutions.

The North has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of striking the United States and has ignored calls to halt its weapons programs, even from China. It says the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

“We urge North Korea to not do anything to again violate U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Tuesday.

“At the same time, we hope all parties can maintain restraint, not be influenced by every single incident, …persist in carrying out Security Council resolutions on North Korea and persevere with the resolution of the issue through peaceful means, dialogue and consultation.”

Wang was responding to reporters’ questions on Monday while in Ivory Coast, according to the statement.

The North’s official KCNA news agency, citing the spokesman for the foreign ministry, said the country had “substantially displayed” the capabilities for mounting a nuclear attack on Hawaii and Alaska and had built full capabilities for attacking the U.S. mainland.

U.S. and South Korean officials and experts believe the North is several years away from having such a capability.

North Korea said on Monday that Sunday’s launch met all technical requirements that could allow mass-production of the missile, which it calls the Pukguksong-2.

The test was North Korea’s second in a week and South Korea’s new liberal government said it dashed its hopes for peace on the peninsula.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the launch and again expressed its concern over the North’s behavior. The Security Council is due to meet behind closed doors later on Tuesday.

North Korea’s recent missile tests were a legitimate act of self-defense by a “fully-fledged nuclear power”, North Korean diplomat Ju Yong Chol told the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Tuesday.

“It is the United States’ hostile policy and its aggressive joint military drills, nuclear threats and military build-up around the Korean peninsula that really aggravates the situation on the Korean peninsula and the region and which compels the DPRK to also up its nuclear deterrence,” he said.

DPRK are the initials for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Ju was the only speaker at the forum who did not begin his remarks by offering condolences to Britain for the victims of Monday night’s bomb attack at a concert in Manchester.

The South Korean military did not say if the unidentified object was hit by the warning shots on Tuesday, but it disappeared from military radar.

North Korea has previously sent drones into South Korean airspace, with some crashing. In January 2016, South Korea fired warning shots at a suspected drone which turned back.

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible over its weapons programs, although U.S. officials say tougher sanctions, not military force, are the preferred option to counter the North Korean threat.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing and Tom Miles in Geneva; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jack Kim)