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US urges China, Russia to act after N. Korea missile launch
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Sept 15, 2017


EU expands N.Korea sanctions
Brussels (AFP) Sept 14, 2017 - The EU expanded its North Korea sanctions list on Thursday, as the international community builds pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes.

The 28-member bloc said it was adding nine individuals and four organisations to the blacklist, including the North Korean state-owned Foreign Trade Bank, in line with UN sanctions announced in August after Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.

The EU decision relates to sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council in August, and not the latest measures, which the UN panel approved on Monday.

International powers hope that economic sanctions will deprive the North of the resources it needs to pursue its nuclear programme and pressure it into negotiating.

There are now 103 individuals and 57 organisations on the EU list.

The EU said Thursday's measures targeted the North's main exports, including coal iron, iron ore, seafood, lead and lead ore.

Further measures target "arms smuggling, joint ventures with foreign companies, banks and its ability to generate revenue and to access the international financial system".

The EU is also lining up fresh sanctions of its own in addition to the UN measures -- these could include a ban on the sale of luxury goods to the north or steps against the regime leadership, even Kim himself.

The North carried out its sixth nuclear test -- and most powerful to date -- on September 3.

The blast sparked international outrage, prompting the Security Council's resolution on Monday that backed the new sanctions against Kim Jong-Un's regime.

The United States Thursday called on China and Russia to take "direct actions" to rein in North Korea after it fired a ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific.

"China supplies North Korea with most of its oil. Russia is the largest employer of North Korean forced labor," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

"China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own."

The launch, from near Pyongyang, came after the United Nations Security Council imposed an eighth set of sanctions on the country over its ballistic missile and atomic weapons programs.

Tillerson called those fresh punitive measures "the floor, not the ceiling, of the actions we should take. We call on all nations to take new measures against the Kim regime."

"These continued provocations only deepen North Korea's diplomatic and economic isolation."

US President Donald Trump has yet to comment on the launch but according to the White House has been briefed.

The UN Security Council will hold a closed-door emergency meeting Friday at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) at the request of the United States and Japan.

Tillerson's call for action came hours after the US military's regional command confirmed North Korea had fired the intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean, noting it had not posed a threat to North America.

It is the second time in less than a month that North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan.

Seoul's defense ministry said the latest missile probably traveled around 3,700 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of 770 kilometers -- further and higher than the Hwasong-12 IRBM launched at the end of August.

That launch was followed by a nuclear test on September 3, its largest to date, which Pyongyang said was a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit onto a missile.

'Missile launch, take cover': Japan's terrifying wake-up call
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 15, 2017 - "Missile launch! Missile launch! A missile appears to have been launched from North Korea. Take cover in a building or underground."

To the accompaniment of blaring sirens and emergency phone alerts, that was the terrifying loudspeaker message that jolted millions of Japanese awake in the early hours as North Korea blasted its second missile over the country in less than a month.

But for local residents on the flightpath over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, there was no question of this becoming a routine event.

"I cannot say that we are used to this. I mean, the missile flew right above our town. It's not a very comforting thing to hear," said Yoshihiro Saito, who works in the small fishing town of Erimo on Hokkaido.

"It's pretty scary. I heard that it went 2,000 kilometres in the Pacific and dropped in the sea" where 16 of his ships were operating under the missile's flight path.

Citizens in earthquake-prone Japan are well-drilled in seeking cover when emergency strikes but with only a matter of minutes from launch to impact, several residents voiced a feeling of helplessness.

"It's really scary. The government tells us to flee to stable buildings but we can't do that quickly. Our colleagues offshore can never take cover," said Yoichi Takahashi, 57, a fisheries official in Kushiro on Hokkaido.

"It has now happened twice to us ... We'll have restless days from now on," Takahashi told AFP.

Isamu Oya, 67, a sushi restaurant owner in Erimo, told AFP: "The government told us to take cover in a stable building or underground, but there isn't one here. We have no choice but just do nothing.

"Scary? Yes, but we can't help it."

- 'Dangerous provocative action' -

Breakfast television programmes across Japan, usually broadcasting a light-hearted diet of children's shows and gadget features, instead flashed up the warning message as the intermediate range ballistic missile flew overhead.

Mobile carriers in Japan sent automatic text messages to rouse customers awake.

Train services between Japan's main island and Hokkaido were temporarily suspended after the launch and bullet train services were also halted.

Airports in the area appeared to be unaffected, however, with Shinya Matsuura, an official at Obihiro airport, near the missile's flightpath, telling AFP that passengers there were calm and quiet.

"We are just relieved it did not affect us."

An ashen looking Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, said his country could "never tolerate" such "dangerous provocative action that threatens world peace".

"If North Korea continues to walk down this path, it has no bright future. We must make North Korea understand this," he added.

The Japanese government said its priority was to ensure the safety of its citizens.

There were no immediate reports of falling debris or damage but Tokyo stressed that a missile launch without warning could have destroyed shipping or aircraft in the area.

But some locals living on the missile flight path fretted that repeated missile launches could have a damaging impact on their day-to-day lives.

"We are afraid that this may have an impact on our life, ranging from fishing to tourism," said Hironori Matsura, an official at the anti-disaster division at Erimo town hall.

Sushi chef Oya said he thought the missile wouldn't affect his trade as most of his customers were local but acknowledged that "I'm afraid this may affect a flow of tourism to Erimo".

Meanwhile, others displayed a grim determination that life would go on.

Saito admitted that the missile has been dominating conversation in the town -- "like how scary it is" -- but said: "No one really has talked about stopping their work or suspending their operations."

NUKEWARS
N. Korean group demands US be turned to 'ashes and darkness'
Seoul (AFP) Sept 14, 2017
A North Korean organisation demanded Thursday that the United States be "beaten to death" like a "rabid dog" for spearheading fresh UN sanctions on Pyongyang over its latest nuclear test, adding ally Japan should be "sunken into the sea". The UN Security Council unanimously imposed an eighth set of sanctions on the North Monday, banning it from trading in textiles and restricting its oil imp ... read more

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com


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