By AFPMore by this AuthorSEOULNorth Korea said Saturday it was seeking military "equilibrium" with the United States as leader Kim Jong-Un vowed to complete Pyongyang's nuclear programme. North Korea successfully fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan on Friday, responding to a new round of UN sanctions over its sixth nuclear test with its furthest-ever missile flight. Yang Uk, an analyst with the Korea Defence and Security Forum, told AFP that Kim's stated ambition of achieving a military balance with Washington was some way off. "It's too unrealistic for North Korea to reach equilibrium in nuclear force with the US," he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron jointly appealed for talks with North Korea, saying this was the only way to resolve tensions over its nuclear programme.

Source: Daily Nation September 16, 2017 13:52 UTC