UN Security Council condemns North Korea missile test

The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea’s latest missile test and warned of new sanctions, BBC reports. In a statement, the 15-member Council demanded that Pyongyang conduct no further such tests.

North Korea earlier said the missile it had tested on Sunday was a new type of rocket capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead. The missile travelled some 700km (435 miles), reaching an altitude of 2,000km and landing in the sea west of Japan.

North Korea said it was a test of the abilities of a “newly developed ballistic rocket”. South Korea’s military said it could not yet verify the North’s claims. But it said Pyongyang’s missiles did appear to be able to leave and re-enter the atmosphere, which is crucial to developing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports.

In the statement on Monday, the UN Security Council stressed on the importance of North Korea “immediately showing sincere commitment to denuclearization through concrete action”. Pyongyang should “conduct no further nuclear and ballistic missile tests,” it said. The Council has imposed six sets of sanctions against the North since 2006.