North Korea launches TWO mid-range missiles capable of reaching U.S. bases in defiance of UN sanctions
The launch comes amid fears dictator Kim Jong-un is building a stockpile of nuclear weapons
North Korea has launched TWO powerful nuclear missiles from it's east coast with both achieving a significantly greater flight distance over previous attempts.
Both tests were thought to have been of Musdan missiles, capable reaching US bases, in defiance of UN sanctions banning the communist state from nuclear testing.
International condemnation was swift, with the United States and Japan labelling the launches a clear violation of UN resolutions, and South Korea vowing to push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang.
Existing UN Security Council measures ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology.
The first test shortly before 6:00 am was deemed to have failed after reportedly flying around 90 miles over the Sea of Japan.
The South Korean defence ministry said the second Musudan -- fired from the same east coast location two hours later -- had flown 400 kilometres.
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Th ministry said "South Korea and the United States are conducting further analysis," but stopped short of calling the second test a failure.
Four failed Musudan tests earlier this year all either exploded on the mobile launch pad or shortly after take-off.
Japan had also put its military on alert for a possible North Korean missile launch as, with an estimated range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres, the missile could theoretically hit the country.
Japanese broadcaster NHK quoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as saying such tests "cannot be tolerated".
According to South Korean media, North Korea has up to 30 Musudan missiles.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified high-ranking government official as saying the second test on Wednesday demonstrated an obvious "improvement in capacity and technology".
The official said the missile appeared to have been fired on an unusually high trajectory to limit its range.
A Japanese defence ministry spokesman said it had reached an altitude of 1,000 kilometres and "exhibited a certain functionality".
The latest tests came with military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula still running high following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch a month later that saw the UN Security Council impose its toughest sanctions to date on the North.
In recent months, North Korea has claimed a series of technical breakthroughs in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to targets across the continental United States.
The North has displayed an ICBM, the KN-08, during military parades, but it has never been tested.
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.
She said: "I don't know if it's a success, but it is definitely progress. Testing is iterative and they are learning from each flight.
"Policymakers need to focus on a testing ban to prevent this from becoming a working missile."
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