Kim also said it is undeniable that the US mainland and key operational areas in the Pacific were within North Korea's striking distance. North Korea usually responds to regular South Korea-US military drills with weapons tests and fiery warlike rhetoric.The United Nations Security Council agreed at an emergency meeting late Wednesday requested by the United States and Japan to consider issuing a statement on the missile launch.Malaysia's UN Ambassador Ramlan Bin Ibrahim, the current council president, told reporters after the closed meeting that "there was a general sense of condemnation by most members of the council. ''He said the United States is drafting the text of a press statement "and we will have a look at it. ''State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said in a statement that the US strongly condemned the launch and called on North Korea to "refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region.'' Its longer distance puts all of South Korea within its range if it is fired near the border.Missiles of such capability could also potentially strike parts of Japan, including US military bases on the island of Okinawa, considering the operational range of North Korea's Sinpo-class submarines, said analyst Kim Dong-yub at Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

Source: Times of India August 25, 2016 02:45 UTC