North Korea test-fired the seventh missile Wednesday,
intensifying the furor ignited when the reclusive regime launched at least six
missiles, including a long-range Taepodong, earlier in the day.
The missiles apparently fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan, and US
officials said the long-range Taepodong-2 failed shortly after take-off, calling
into question the technological capability of North Korea's feared ballistic
missile program. Pyongyang last fired a long-range missile in 1998.
But the audacious military exercise
drew immediate attention and condemnation. The North American Aerospace Defense
Command monitored the launches as they progressed but soon determined they were
not a threat to the United States, a spokesman said.
The political reaction was swift. The White House called the tests a
"provocation," while the UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for
Wednesday and Tokyo warned of economic sanctions against the impoverished
communist country.
A North Korea foreign ministry official told Japanese journalists in
Pyongyang that the regime there has an undeniable right to test missiles.
"The missile launch is an issue that is entirely within our sovereignty. No
one has the right to dispute it," Ri Pyong Dok, a researcher on Japanese affairs
at the North's Foreign Ministry, said on footage aired by TBS. "On the missile
launch, we are not bound by any agreement."
In Moscow, Russia summoned the North Korean ambassador to discuss the issue,
the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. The agency said Ambassador Pak Ui Chun would
meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, but gave no other details.
Japanese national broadcaster NHK reported that an unidentified Foreign
Ministry official in Pyongyang acknowledged the firing of the missiles, but Ri
told reporters that diplomats like himself are unaware of what the military is
doing.
Some feared more firings. Pyongyang could test additional missiles soon
despite the international furor over Wednesday's launches, Australian Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said after making a protest via telephone to North
Korea's ambassador to Canberra, Chon Jae Hong.
"We think they probably do intend to launch more missiles in the next day or
two," Downer told reporters, without explaining if the possibility of more tests
came up in his talk with Chon.
