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Agencies

US President Donald Trump called for tougher sanctions against North Korea after it launched another ballistic missile on Sunday in an apparent attempt to test the South’s new liberal president and the US.
“Let this latest provocation serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea,” the White House said in a brief statement.
The missile flew more than 700km before landing in the Sea of Japan, or East Sea.
It impacted “so close to Russian soil ... the president cannot imagine that Russia is pleased”, the White House said.
North Korea “has been a flagrant menace for far too long”, it added.
A Kremlin spokesman said President Vladimir Putin was concerned about the missile test, but the defence ministry later said the missile did not pose a threat to Russia, landing about 500km from its border.
“This missile launch represented no danger for the Russian Federation,” according to a defence ministry statement carried by Russian state news agencies.
The launch took place while Beijing is hosting an international “Silk Road” summit with global leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. A North Korean delegation also attended.
Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, had phone conversations with his counterparts in Japan and South Korea to discuss the situation.
China, which has been under growing US pressure to help rein in the nuclear-armed North, called for restraint.

Multiple sets of UN and US sanctions against North Korea have done little to deter it from pursuing its nuclear and missile ambitions.
Before the missile test, the US Treasury said it was considering “every tool in our arsenal” to cut off sources of international financing for illegal activities in the North.
Trump has threatened military action but recently appeared to have softened his stance, saying he would be “honoured” to meet leader Kim Jong-un under the right conditions.
New South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who was inaugurated on Wednesday, has also been conciliatory. But he slammed the missile test as a “reckless provocation” after holding an emergency meeting with national security advisers.
Moon said Seoul strongly condemned this “grave challenge to the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the international community”, according to his spokesman Yoon Young-chan.

Moon, unlike his conservative predecessors, advocates reconciliation with Pyongyang but warned Sunday that dialogue would be possible “only if the North changes its attitude”.
Moon had said in his inauguration speech that he was willing to visit Pyongyang “in the right circumstances” to ease tensions.
The North itself would be willing to hold talks with the US if the conditions are right, according to Choe Son-hui, a senior official at the North’s foreign ministry, on Saturday.
“The North is apparently trying to test Moon and see how his North Korea policy as well as policy coordination between the South and the US will take shape,” said Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korea Studies in Seoul.
The launch was also aimed at “maximising the North’s political leverage” ahead of possible negotiations with the US, as Pyongyang and Washington both recently signalled they were open to talks, he added.
Watch: how the North Korea situation intensified


“The North wants to show before negotiations that their precious, powerful weapon is not something they would give up so easily,” Yang said.
The missile test is likely to embarrass Beijing, which was hosting an international summit Sunday to promote its ambitious global trade infrastructure project.
Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping discussed the Korean situation on the sidelines of the meeting and “both parties expressed their concern over the escalation of tensions”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
China, the isolated North’s sole major ally and economic lifeline, has been reluctant to upset the status quo in Pyongyang and risk an influx of refugees from its neighbour.
The latest test was the North’s first launch since a controversial US missile defence system deployed in the South became operational on May 2. It follows a failed April 29 ballistic missile test by Pyongyang.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed the latest launch as “totally unacceptable” and a “grave threat” to Tokyo.
The North has staged two atomic tests and dozens of missile launches since the start of last year in its quest to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.
The US Pacific Command said Sunday’s launch did not appear to be an ICBM.
Yang said however it showed “fast progress” in Pyongyang’s missile capability.
The missile was fired from a site near the northwestern city of Kusong. A previous test at the same site in February sent a missile 500 kilometres, far less than Sunday’s launch.


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North Korea

Moscow said North Korean missile posed no danger after US reported impact ‘so close to Russian soil’

The launch was also a direct challenge to the new South Korean president and comes as China hosts major international summit

(170514) -- BEIJING, May 14, 2017 (Xinhua) --
The Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation opens in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves to the members of the Korean People's Army in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 13, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

epa05962619 A handout photo made available by the Cheong Wa Dae, the executive office and official residence of the South Korean President, shows South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) chairing a National Security Council session at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae (The Blue House) in Seoul, South Korea, 14 May 2017, to discuss North Korea's missile launch earlier in the day. The North fired a ballistic missile that flew some 700km, its first military provocation since Moon took office on 10 May. Moon called the launch a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and said he will deal resolutely against such provocations while leaving the door open for dialogue. EPA/SOUTH KOREA'S CHEONG WA DAE HANDOUT SOUTH KOREA OUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Military vehicles carry missiles with characters reading 'Pukkuksong' during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of country's founding father, Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang last month. Photo: Reuters

North Korea ‘seizes moment’ to test missile

Passengers watch a news report on North Korea’s missile test at a railway station in Seoul on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast on North Korea's ballistic missile launch at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday, May 14, 2017. North Korea fired a ballistic missile early Sunday, its seventh such test this year, just days after South Korea elected a president who vowed to engage with Kim Jong Un's regime to defuse tensions over its nuclear weapons program. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

A man watches a television screen showing Moon Jae-in, South Korea's president, during a news broadcast on North Korea's ballistic missile launch at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday, May 14, 2017. North Korea fired a ballistic missile early Sunday, its seventh such test this year, just days after South Korea elected a president who vowed to engage with Kim Jong Un's regime to defuse tensions over its nuclear weapons program. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

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The launch was also a direct challenge to the new South Korean president and comes as China hosts major international summit


US-Russia relations

Moscow said North Korean missile posed no danger after US reported impact ‘so close to Russian soil’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The launch was also a direct challenge to the new South Korean president and comes as China hosts major international summit

The launch was also a direct challenge to the new South Korean president and comes as China hosts major international summit