UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council president condemned nuclear-armed North Korea over its tests of a powerful new medium-range missile on Wednesday, calling for a swift response from the world body.

Francois Delattre of France said the back-to-back tests were a “clear and unacceptable” violation of Security Council resolutions.

South Korea’s defence ministry said the two missiles achieved a significant increase in flight distance over previous failed launches and were believed to be of a much-hyped, intermediate-range Musudan missile — theoretically capable of reaching US bases as far away as Guam.

Delattre called for a swift response by the UN and said the Security Council would likely meet later in the day. “The North Korean ballistic programme is a serious threat to regional and international peace and security,” he said.

The first test was deemed to have failed after the missile flew an estimated 150km over the East Sea, or Sea of Japan.

Japanese military monitors said the second test attained a height of 1,000km and a range of 400km — a trajectory some experts suggested was calculated to avoid any violation of Japanese air space.

Existing UN Security Council measures ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology. After Pyongyang conducted a fourth nuclear test on Jan 6, followed by a long-range rocket launch Feb 7, the Security Council adopted its most punishing sanctions yet against North Korea.

A successful test would mark a major step forward for a weapons programme that ultimately aspires to develop a proven nuclear strike capability against the US mainland.

Melissa Hanham, an expert on North Korea’s WMD programme at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, said Wednesday’s launches represented a worrying step forward. “The second was likely a success. Testing is iterative and they are learning from each flight,” said Hanham. “Policymakers need to focus on a testing ban to prevent this from becoming a working missile.”

US State Department spokesman John Kirby said the latest launches would only increase global efforts to counter North Korea’s illicit weapons programme.

Japanese broadcaster NHK quoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as saying such tests “cannot be tolerated”, while Nato “strongly condemned” the launch in a statement from its secretary general.

South Korea’s foreign ministry warned that North Korea would face even stronger sanctions and said the tests underlined “the hypocrisy and deceptiveness” of Pyongyang’s recent offers of military talks with Seoul.

China, traditionally the North’s closest ally, cautioned against “any action that may escalate tension” and called for a resumed dialogue on Pyongyang’s nuclear drive.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2016