VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — The U.S. military on Tuesday cheered a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a program meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat.

The U.S. military fired an ICBM-type missile from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) and hailed it as an “incredible accomplishment.”

“This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat,” Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the agency, said in a statement.

“This is part of a continuous learning curve,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

“We improve and learn from each test, regardless of the outcome. That’s the reason we conduct them,” he said. “We look forward to understanding the results so we can continue to mature the system and stay ahead of the threat.”

The Pentagon is still incorporating engineering upgrades to its missile interceptor, which has yet to be fully tested in realistic conditions.

North Korea says its nuclear and missile programs are a defense against perceived U.S. military threats. Its accelerating missile development has complicated Pentagon calculations, most recently by incorporating solid-fuel technology into its rockets. The step would mean even less launch warning time for the United States. Liquid fuel is less stable and rockets using it have to be fueled in the field, a process that takes longer and can be detected by satellites.

In Tuesday’s scheduled test, the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency plans to launch an interceptor rocket from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The interceptor’s target would be an intercontinental-range missile fired from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific.

If all goes as planned, a 5-foot-long “kill vehicle” released from atop the interceptor will zero in on the ICBM-like target’s mock warhead outside Earth’s atmosphere and obliterate it by sheer force of impact. The “kill vehicle” carries no explosives, either in testing or in actual combat.

The planned target is a custom-made missile meant to simulate an ICBM, meaning it will fly faster than missiles used in previous intercept tests, according to Christopher Johnson, the Missile Defense Agency’s spokesman. The target is not a mock-up of an actual North Korean ICBM, and details of its exact capabilities have not been made public.

Officially known as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, the Pentagon likens the defensive tactic to hitting a bullet with a bullet. With congressional support, the Pentagon is increasing by the end of this year the number of deployed interceptors, based in California and Alaska, to 44 from the current total of 36.

While Tuesday’s test wasn’t designed with the expectation of an imminent North Korean missile threat, the military will closely look for progress toward the stated goal of being able to reliably shoot down a small number of ICBMs targeting the United States. The Pentagon is thirsting for a success story amid growing fears about North Korea’s escalating capability.

Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has criticized the missile defense program, calls the interceptor an “advanced prototype,” meaning it is not fully matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically available for combat since 2004. A successful test Tuesday, she said, may demonstrate the Pentagon is on the right track with its latest technical fixes.

“Overall,” she wrote in an analysis prior to the test, the military “is not even close to demonstrating that the system works in a real-world setting.”

The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of U.S. defense against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile.

The Pentagon has other elements of missile defense that have shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles. These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries have purchased from the U.S., and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which the U.S. deployed this year to South Korea to defend against medium-range missiles from North Korea.</s>Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea test-fired a missile Monday into Japan’s maritime economic zone — the latest in a series of provocative launches that have ratcheted up tensions over its nuclear weapons ambitions.

It was the North’s third ballistic missile test in as many weeks and the 12th this year -– carried out in defiance of UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action.

US military monitors said the short-range missile flew for six minutes, while Japan said it fell into the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) — waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

The launch comes in fresh defiance of tough talk from US President Donald Trump, who promised last week at the G7 summit that the “big problem” of North Korea “will be solved”.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swiftly condemned the test and vowed concerted action along with its US ally.

“We will never tolerate North Korea’s continued provocations that ignore repeated warnings by the international community,” Abe told reporters.

“As agreed during the G7 summit, the North Korean problem is the international community’s top priority. In order to deter North Korea, we will take concrete action with the United States.”

The North has been stepping up efforts towards its ultimate goal — developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental US.

The isolated but nuclear-armed North has test-fired a missile almost every week for the past three weeks.

The latest, a short-range Scud, flew about 450 kilometres (280 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) between the Korean peninsula and Japan, the US Pacific Command said.

Monday’s test also marked the second time this year that a North Korean missile fell provocatively close to its neighbour Japan.

Despite Trump’s strident warnings, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in an interview that aired Sunday before the launch that a war with North Korea would be “catastrophic.”

“The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, which is the capital of South Korea,” he told CBS News.

“This regime is a threat to the region, to Japan, to South Korea. And in the event of war, they would bring danger to China and to Russia as well.

“But the bottom line is, it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat, if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means.”

Mattis declined to say what kind of action from Pyongyang would constitute a “red line” for Washington, saying the administration needs “political manoeuvre room.”

South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-In, ordered a meeting of the national security council to assess the launch, which came a day after North Korea said its leader Kim Jong-Un had overseen a test of a new anti-aircraft weapons system.

The South condemned the test as a “grave threat” and a challenge to the new leader who advocates dialogue with the North in a break from his conservative predecessors.

“That the North repeated such provocations after the inauguration of our new leadership… is a direct challenge to our demand for peace and denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” the foreign ministry said.

The missile launches, and Pyongyang’s threat to stage its sixth nuclear test, have prompted calls for tougher UN sanctions and a warning from Trump that military intervention was an option under consideration.

Following North Korea’s test-firing of what analysts said was its longest-range rocket yet earlier this month, the UN Security Council vowed to push all countries to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang.

But China, the North’s main trade partner and ally, has made it clear that the push for diplomatic talks — and not imposing more sanctions — is the priority.

The US has said it is willing to enter into talks with North Korea — but only if it halts its missile and nuclear tests.

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Also, Like us on facebook</s>North Korea on Monday fired an apparent short-range ballistic missile that is believed to have fallen into Japan’s exclusive economic zone — a move that prompted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to vow “concrete measures” in response.

The U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement later the same day that it had detected the launch of “a short-range ballistic missile” near the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, adding that it had tracked the missile for six minutes until it landed in the Sea of Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told an emergency news conference early Monday that the missile, launched at around 5:40 a.m., is “believed to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from its coast, into the Sea of Japan.

Suga said the missile was estimated to have landed some 300 km off Shimane Prefecture’s Oki Islands. He said there were no reports of damage to planes or vessels in the area, adding that Japan filed a protest with North Korea, using “the strongest wording” possible to condemn the move.

“The firing of the ballistic missile . . . clearly violates resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council,” Suga said.

A top North Korean official told the BBC in April that the country will continue to test missiles despite international condemnation and growing military tensions with the U.S. and its allies.

“We’ll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” Vice Foreign Minister Han Song Ryol said at the time.

Monday’s test was the third launch in as many weeks.

While weekly missile tests might put a strain on the regime, regular launches could become a “new normal,” according to Shea Cotton, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California.

“I think this might become the new normal where North Korea tests a missile regularly,” Cotton said. “Perhaps not every week but maybe every two weeks. At least until something changes like some sort of diplomatic settlement or deal.”

Meeting with reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday, Abe said that Tokyo will “never tolerate” Pyongyang’s repeated provocations.

“To deter North Korea, we, together with the United States, will take concrete actions,” Abe said. He did not elaborate.

Abe said leaders of the Group of Seven developed nations, who wrapped up their annual meeting in Taormina, Sicily, on Saturday, have agreed that the North Korean issue is “one of the top-priority issues of the international community.”

At the summit, Abe also called for China and Russia to effectively use their influence with the North to rein in the isolated nation.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that he and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson agreed in a 25-minute telephone conference that Tokyo and Washington will further ramp up pressure on China and Russia to play a larger role in curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile ambitions. He didn’t elaborate, however, on what specific actions he expects from the two nations.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said the ministry believes the missile — judging from the 400-km distance it flew — was a Scud or Scud variant. The ministry estimated that it had hit a maximum altitude of about 100 km.

“There is nothing about the way the missile flew that suggested its trajectory was in any way extraordinary,” Inada, said, ruling out the possibility it had been tested on either a “depressed” or “lofted” trajectory.

In an apparent bid to tout its quick response time, the Japanese government said that notification that the missile could fall into the EEZ came just 35 minutes after its launch, Kyodo News reported. It took Tokyo about 90 minutes on May 21 and 75 minutes on May 14 for the Defense Ministry to release information on those launches.

The launch also came the same day as China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, arrived in Japan for a three-day visit. He was scheduled to speak with Shotaro Yachi, head of the National Security Council, on Monday, according to Kyodo, with the launch likely to top their discussions.

Monday’s launch marked the 12th test-firing by the nuclear-armed country this year. It was the first time since early March that a North Korean missile has fallen within Japan’s EEZ and the fourth time in total. On March 6, three of four Scud ER (extended-range) missiles fired by the country landed inside the zone.

North Korean state-run media said those launches were part of rehearsal for striking U.S. military bases in Japan. Analysts said that the hypothetical target of that drill was U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The North’s Scuds, which use liquid fuel, are known to have a range of 300-500 km. But it has recently developed the Scud-ER, which is capable of traveling up to 1,000 km, putting parts of Japan within range.

North Korea last test-fired a ballistic missile just eight days ago from an east coast site and on Sunday said it had tested a new anti-aircraft weapon supervised by leader Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang said the May 21 test of the Pukguksong-2, a solid-fuel, medium-range missile capable of striking most of Japan, was “perfect” and that the weapon was ready to be deployed “for action.”

Abe characterized that launch as a “challenge to the world.”

Pyongyang, undeterred by multiple UNSC sanctions resolutions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs, continues to defy the international community with atomic and rocket tests.

There has been mounting speculation that Pyongyang will conduct a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, suggested by a New Year’s Day address in which the North Korean leader claimed that the country was in the “final stages” of developing such a weapon.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed that a launch of an ICBM by Pyongyang “won’t happen” on his watch.

Staff writer Reiji Yoshida contributed to this report</s>North Korea test-fired a missile Monday into Japan’s maritime economic zone — the latest in a series of provocative launches that have heightened tensions over its nuclear weapons ambitions.

It was the North’s third ballistic missile test in as many weeks and the 12th this year -– carried out in defiance of UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action.

US military monitors said the short-range missile flew for six minutes, while Japan said it fell into its exclusive economic zone, extending 200 nautical miles from the coast.

The launch went ahead despite tough talk from US President Donald Trump, who promised last week at the G7 summit that the “big problem” of North Korea “will be solved”.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swiftly condemned the test and vowed concerted action with its US ally.

“We will never tolerate North Korea’s continued provocations that ignore repeated warnings by the international community,” Abe told reporters.

“As agreed during the G7 summit, the North Korean problem is the international community’s top priority. In order to deter North Korea, we will take concrete action with the United States.”

The North has been stepping up efforts towards its ultimate goal — developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental US.

Monday’s test also marked the second time this year that a North Korean missile fell provocatively close to its neighbour Japan. South Korea’s military said the Scud-type missile travelled for 450 km (280 miles).

– Conflict ‘catastrophic’ –

 Despite Trump’s strident warnings, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in an interview which aired Sunday before the launch that a war with North Korea would be “catastrophic”.

“The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, which is the capital of South Korea,” he told CBS News.

“This regime is a threat to the region, to Japan, to South Korea. And in the event of war, they would bring danger to China and to Russia as well.

“But the bottom line is, it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat, if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means.”

Mattis declined to say what kind of action from Pyongyang would constitute a “red line” for Washington, saying the administration needs “political manoeuvre room.”

The latest launch demonstrates the North’s determination to secure more leverage in any future negotiations with the US, said Cho Han-Bum, analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

“The North, despite its series of provocations, has not crossed the ultimate red line, which would be staging another nuclear test or a successful ICBM test,” Cho said.

“Today’s launch is the North’s way of saying to the world, ‘It wouldn’t be easy to make us suspend our weapons programmes even if you manage to pressure me into negotiations’,” he said.

– ‘Direct challenge’ –

 South Korea’s new president Moon Jae-In ordered a meeting of the national security council to assess the launch, which came a day after North Korea said its leader Kim Jong-Un had overseen a test of a new anti-aircraft weapons system.

The South condemned the missile test as a “grave threat” and a challenge to Moon, who advocates dialogue with the North in a break from his conservative predecessors.

“That the North repeated such provocations after the inauguration of our new leadership… is a direct challenge to our demand for peace and denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” the foreign ministry said.

The missile launches, and Pyongyang’s threat to stage its sixth nuclear test, have prompted calls for tougher UN sanctions and a warning from Trump that military intervention was an option under consideration.

Following North Korea’s test-firing earlier this month of what analysts said was its longest-range rocket yet, the UN Security Council vowed to push all countries to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang.

But China, the North’s main trade partner and ally, has made it clear that the push for talks — and not more sanctions — is the priority.

The US has said it is willing to enter into talks with North Korea, but only if it halts its missile and nuclear tests.

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Also, Like us on facebook</s>SEOUL—The U.S. and South Korea conducted a joint drill involving U.S. B-1B bombers on Monday, the second such exercise this month and a move North Korea called “a grave military provocation,” after the North test-launched a short-range ballistic missile the same day.

The drill, which North Korea said took place over South Korea and near the Military Demarcation Line that divides the two Koreas, was confirmed by a spokesman for South...</s>The U.S. military has shot down mock warhead over the Pacific in a key success for it missile defense program, just days amid growing fears over North Korea's weapons capability.

The Pentagon announced the first missile defense test was taking place today involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, firing off an interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a Reuters witness at the base said.

The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor successfully struck its target over the Pacific Ocean in an exercise aimed at helping gauge American ability to counter any potential similar threat from North Korea.

The est comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Pyongyang over North Korea's continued provocations.

Just two days ago, North Korea fired at least one short-range ballistic missile on Monday that landed in the sea off its east coast, in Japan's maritime economic zone, the latest in a fast-paced series of missile tests defying world pressure and threats of more sanctions. Kim Jong-un has claimed its latest test missile landed just seven metres from its target in Japanese waters.

As a result, South Korea conducted a joint drill with a US supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber, prompting the North's dictator to claim the allied countries were practicing dropping nuclear bombs.

The North Korean test fire came on the heels of two previous successful tests of medium-to-long-range missiles in as many weeks by the North, which has been conducting such tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.

Kim Jong-un said the reclusive state would develop more powerful weapons to defend North Korea against the United States, and state media quoted him as saying: 'He expressed the conviction that it would make a greater leap forward in this spirit to send a bigger 'gift package to the Yankees' in retaliation for American military provocation'.

Today's $244 million US test has been heralded as a success after it brought down the mock intercontinental ballistic missile. However, that missile is just one weapon among North Korea's arsenal.

It does not prove that America can defend its against one of Pyongyang's intercontinental-range missiles, while the dictatorship is also understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such a missile and could have developed decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead.

America's last intercept test, in June 2014, was successful, but the longer track record is spotty. Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful.

North Korea says its nuclear and missile programs are a defense against perceived U.S. military threats.

Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has criticized the missile defense program, calls the interceptor an "advanced prototype," meaning it is not fully matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically available for combat since 2004.

The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of U.S. defense against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile.

The Pentagon has other elements of missile defense that have shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles. These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries have purchased from the U.S., and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which the U.S. deployed this year to South Korea to defend against medium-range missiles from North Korea.</s>On May 16, Joseph Y. Yun, the ambassador and U.S. special representative for North Korea policy and deputy assistant secretary for Korea and Japan in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, came to Portland State to discuss North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and what can be done to manage its unpredictable regime and nuclear threat.

Yun’s lecture, “Dealing with a Nuclear North Korea,” was part of the Asia Diplomat Lecture Series. He spoke of the underlying issues and concerns with North Korea, the ultimate goal in dealing with nuclear weapons, and the ways to engage and mitigate the threat posed to the U.S. and its allies.

The threat from North Korea is not a new problem, but it has been an issue for several decades now. When thinking about dealing with North Korea, Yun spoke of adopting a diplomatic, long-term perspective and outlook.

“We must have a vision of what North Korea is and what it could be,” Yun said.

When approaching North Korea, Yun said that extreme options do not work: option 1, demanding an extreme regime change from North Korea; and option 2, accepting they have nuclear weapons.

Yun stated the U.S. cannot be extremely rigid, just as much as it cannot be accepting. The U.S. must engage politically and diplomatically in order to effectively deal with North Korea.

“When dealing with North Korea, we must keep expectations low,” Yun said. “We have to ask: What is it we want? What does the U.S. want? What does North Korea want?”

One of the underlying concerns when it comes to managing North Korea is lack of U.S. engagement with China.

Yun said the U.S. is not using China as much as it should, largely due to the fact that China has never been on board with joining the U.S. in effectively dealing with North Korea. Although the U.S. cannot rely 100 percent on China, utilizing the country’s assistance is key to managing the threat. According to Yun, the main reason the Chinese have not been completely on board is due to concerns for their own stability. Instability in North Korea means instability in their own country.

In order to get China on board, the country’s concerns must be eased; U.S. policy should not be aimed at regime change or collapse, and it’s important to assure both China and North Korea of that.

“We don’t have the ambition to rectify the peninsula, change or collapse the regime,” Yun said.

He explained that the ultimate goal for the U.S. is to denuclearize North Korea. The first step is asking North Korea to stop testing, followed by a peace treaty. Yun stated the U.S. must stop North Korea before they reach intercontinental ballistic missile capability, which serves as a homeland threat.

In response to the question of why not talk to North Korea and come to an agreement, Yun explained that nuclear weapons are not tolerated and are by no means acceptable. Because North Korea is currently testing its nuclear weapons, the U.S. is past the point of engagement. If the U.S. decides to engage first, prior to asking North Korea to denuclearize, then the U.S. risks sending the message that possessing nuclear weapons will not have consequences. It’s then that other countries might want to possess their own nuclear weapons, which will initiate a snowball effect where everyone will want to develop their own nuclear weapons.

A previous engagement policy with North Korea was implemented during the Clinton Administration in 1994, when former President Jimmy Carter visited the country on a peacekeeping mission. The United States and North Korea struck a deal, one in which North Korea would dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for more normalized and peaceful diplomatic relations and economic assistance. However, there was little trust established on either side, and the agreement eventually fell through.

Opening the door to engagement must be accompanied by a reasonable agreement that targets the main goal—denuclearization of North Korea.

So when does the U.S. actually start talking to North Korea? Yun said there has been growing pressure to engage with North Korea, but since there is little trust established, engagement will not be as effective. He stated that building trust with partners is the first step.

China and South Korea are the most viable partners, and they’re necessary in helping manage North Korea. There needs to be engagement between the U.S., China and South Korea because the U.S. cannot succeed in denuclearizing North Korea without their help. Especially now, with the newly elected progressive South Korean president, Moon Jae-In, South Korea is more likely to partner and engage with the United States. Without necessary engagement and dialogue with China and South Korea, tensions will continue to increase with North Korea.

Essentially, Yun said the U.S. needs to implement a pressure policy on China and work with the United Nations to implement multi-level sanctions and diplomatically isolate North Korea.

He explained that a secondary sanction, cutting off supplies and trade, cannot be done without China. Sanctioning China means putting a stop to trade between China and North Korea. However, according to Yun, approximately 90 percent of trade with North Korea comes from China. Therefore, sanctioning China would be difficult because it would mean cutting off major resources for China, and at that point, it not only affects North Korea but China too.

Yun said that adopting a long-term perspective is a possible solution.

“My goal is to put North Korea on a track that in 20 to 30 years’ time could be a problem that could be solved,” Yun said.

Yun stated the best option for managing North Korea is to implement a moratorium, which includes North Korea ceasing nuclear testing and development and disabling and dismantling nuclear weapons. However, he explained that each of these steps has a price.

“The question is, what are we willing to pay?” Yun said.</s>(CNN) North Korea launched a ballistic missile test Monday, its third in less than three weeks.

The short-range ballistic missile traveled an estimated 248 miles, splashing down within Japan's exclusive economic zone, an area of sea where commercial ships are known to operate, according to statements from both the Japanese government and the South Korean military.

South Korea and Japan immediately issued strong protests, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promising "concrete action" in response to the test, and South Korean defense chiefs saying the North would face "strong punishment from our military."

What it's really like to be inside North Korea

What it's really like to be inside North Korea 01:40

What it's really like to be inside North Korea

North Korea has fired 12 missiles during nine tests so far in 2017 -- this compares with 10 missile launches in the same time period in 2016

Analysts say all of North Korea's tests, successful or not, provide information that help bring it closer to its goal of building a missile that could reach the US.

That the missile landed within 200 nautical miles of the Japanese coast was an "extremely problematic act for the safety of airplanes and ships" Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a statement. The launch, read the statement, "is clearly violating the UN resolution. The repeated provocative acts by North Korea is absolutely not acceptable."

The Japanese Prime Minister said a "firm protest" was lodged with North Korea and that Tokyo would take action "together with the United States." Analysts say Japan's options for dealing with North Korea unilaterally are limited.

Tokyo couldn't carry out a military response alone, said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii Pacific University professor and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.

"Japan lacks the ballistic missiles, intelligence, targeting and reconnaissance assets, or electronic warfare and air defense suppression capability required to carry out any effective military response," Schuster said.

However, Japan could do some things that might hurt North Korea economically, he said, such as stopping and searching North Korean merchant and fishing vessels in Japanese waters.

No red lines

The government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took office in early May and who has advocated dialogue with the North, condemned Monday's launch.

"It is a severe threat to the peace and stability of not only the Korean Peninsula, but also the international community," said a statement from South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Since our new government took office, North Korea has been frequently and repeatedly conducting provocation in such manner. This is in direct opposition to our demands in regards to the denuclearization and peace of the Korean Peninsula."

"North Korea's continuous provocative actions will cause its own isolation and it will be facing strong punishment from our military, South Korea and US alliance and the international community," a statement from South Korea's Joint Chiefs said.

JUST WATCHED How much damage can North Korea's weapons do? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How much damage can North Korea's weapons do? 01:04

Despite that rhetoric, the allies have not given North Korea any "red lines" which it cannot cross or face a military strike, said Adam Mount, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

"If they're not clear on what they are attempting to deter, they're not going to have the effect they desire," Mount said.

Even if a military response was considered, the repercussions could be catastrophic.

"If this goes to a military solution, it is going to be tragic on an unbelievable scale," US Defense Secretary James Mattis said earlier this month.

Any pre-emptive military strike on North Korea would put South Korean and Japanese civilian populations, as well as US military installations within those countries, at risk for a North Korean counterstrike. Some estimates put 25 million civilians at risk in the Seoul metropolitan area alone.

Testing continues

Current economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations and others seem to have done nothing to slow North Korea's missile program.

On May 14, North Korea fired what analysts called its most successful test ever in its quest to develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

That test reached an altitude of more than 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles), according to North Korea. Analysts said that test gave North Korea critical information on developing a re-entry vehicle for nuclear warheads and showed Pyongyang had a missile capable of striking the US territory of Guam.

On May 21, Pyongyang sent a medium-range ballistic missile into the waters off its east coast. North Korea said that projectile was a ground-to-ground strategic ballistic missile Pukguksong-2, state news agency KCNA reported.

JUST WATCHED North Korea launches second missile in a week Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korea launches second missile in a week 00:42

Key timing

As with a number of previous North Korean tests, the timing of Monday's launch came close to a key international event.

Less than two days earlier, Japan's Prime Minister met with US President Donald Trump and five other leaders from some of the world's most powerful countries at the G7 summit in Italy.

In their final communiqué, Abe and Trump -- along with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom -- said North Korea "increasingly poses new levels of threat of a grave nature to international peace and stability ... through its repeated and ongoing breaches of international law."

North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile...but China is trying hard! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2017

North Korea's May 14 test came as China was hosting a major economic summit in Beijing. In early April, Pyongyang tested a missile as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared to meet at a summit in Florida.

In a statement, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Beijing urged North Korea to "refrain from any action contrary to UN Security Council resolutions."

Echoing language used in the past, the statement added the situation on the Korean peninsula "is complex and sensitive."

"We hope all parties remain calm and exercise restraint ... and put the peninsula back on the track of peaceful talks," it said.

North Korea has said its missile testing is in reaction to threats against it by the South, the United States and Japan.</s>South Korea's Defence Ministry "intentionally dropped" mentioning that four more launchers had been deployed for the controversial U.S. THAAD anti-missile system in a report to President Moon Jae-in's top aides, his office said on Wednesday.

SEOUL: South Korea's Defence Ministry "intentionally dropped" mentioning that four more launchers had been deployed for the controversial U.S. THAAD anti-missile system in a report to President Moon Jae-in's top aides, his office said on Wednesday.

Moon has ordered a probe at the defence ministry, saying it was "very shocking" the launchers had been brought in without being reported to the new government or to the public, presidential Blue House spokesman Yoon Young-chan said on Tuesday.

The Defence Ministry intentionally omitted details about the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system battery (THAAD) in a report last week, when the new government was preparing for Moon's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump next month, Yoon told a briefing.

"The Blue House has confirmed that the Defence Ministry has intentionally dropped the introduction of four more launchers in its report," Yoon said.

Moon took office on May 10 without a transition period because a snap presidential election was held just two months after his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, was ousted in a corruption scandal. Moon inherited his defence minister along with the rest of his cabinet from the previous administration.

The THAAD battery was initially deployed in March in the southeastern region of Seongju with just two of its maximum load of six launchers to counter a growing North Korean missile threat.

An earlier version of the defence ministry report specified the total number of launchers being prepared for deployment and the name of the U.S. military base where the four were being kept, but the reference was removed in the final version delivered to the Blue House, Yoon said.

The Pentagon said it had been "very transparent" with South Korea's government about THAAD deployment.

During his successful presidential campaign, Moon called for a parliamentary review of the THAAD system, the deployment of which has infuriated China, North Korea's lone major ally. Moon had also called for more engagement and dialogue with Pyongyang.

But North Korea has conducted three ballistic missile tests since Moon took office, maintaining its accelerated pace of missile and nuclear-related activities since the beginning of last year in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

In Washington, the U.S. military said on Tuesday it had staged a successful, first-ever missile defence test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"The intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target is an incredible accomplishment ... a critical milestone for this program," Vice Admiral Jim Syring, the director of the Missile Defence Agency, said in a statement.

Moon's order of a probe over the THAAD deployment came amid signs of easing tensions between South Korea and China, a major trading partner.

China had been incensed over the THAAD deployment, saying it would do little to deter the missile threat from North Korea while allowing the U.S. military to use its radar to look deep into its territory and at its own missile systems.

Beijing is also troubled by the possibility the THAAD system would open the door to a wider deployment the U.S. missile defence systems, possibly in Japan and elsewhere, military analysts say.

South Korean companies have faced product boycotts and bans on Chinese tourists visiting South Korea, although China has denied discriminating against them.</s>WASHINGTON – The Pentagon scored an important success Tuesday in a test of its oft-criticized missile defense program, destroying a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean with an interceptor that is key to protecting U.S. territory from a North Korean attack.

Vice Adm. Jim Syring, director of the Pentagon agency in charge of developing the missile defense system, called the test result “an incredible accomplishment” and a critical milestone for a program hampered by setbacks over the years.

“This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat,” Syring said in a written statement announcing the test result.

Despite the success, the $244 million test didn’t confirm that under wartime conditions the U.S. could intercept an intercontinental-range missile fired by North Korea. Pyongyang is understood to be moving closer to the capability of putting a nuclear warhead on such an ICBM and could develop decoys sophisticated enough to trick an interceptor into missing the real warhead.

“Initial indications are that the test met its primary objective, but program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test,” his statement said.

Philip E. Coyle, a former head of the Pentagon’s test and evaluation office and a senior fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said Tuesday’s outcome was a significant success for a test that was three years in preparation, but he noted that it was only the second success in the last five intercept attempts since 2010.

“In several ways, this test was a $244 million-dollar baby step, a baby step that took three years,” Coyle said.

The most recent intercept test, in June 2014, was successful, but the longer track record is spotty. Since the system was declared ready for potential combat use in 2004, only four of nine intercept attempts have been successful.

“This is part of a continuous learning curve,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, ahead of Tuesday’s test. The Pentagon is still incorporating engineering upgrades to its missile interceptor, which has yet to be fully tested in realistic conditions.

North Korea says its nuclear and missile programs are a defense against perceived U.S. military threats. Its accelerating missile development has complicated Pentagon calculations, most recently by incorporating solid-fuel technology into its rockets. The step would mean even less launch warning time for the United States. Liquid fuel is less stable and rockets using it have to be fueled in the field, a process that takes longer and can be detected by satellites.

Underscoring its uninterrupted efforts, North Korea on Monday fired a short-range ballistic missile that landed in Japan’s maritime economic zone.

In Tuesday’s U.S. test, the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency launched an interceptor rocket from an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The target was an intercontinental-range missile fired from a test range on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific.

According to the plan, a 5-foot-long “kill vehicle” released from atop the interceptor zeroed in on the ICBM-like target’s mock warhead outside Earth’s atmosphere and obliterated it by sheer force of impact, the Pentagon said. The “kill vehicle” carries no explosives, either in testing or in actual combat.

The target was a custom-made missile meant to simulate an ICBM, meaning it flew faster than missiles used in previous intercept tests, according to Christopher Johnson, the Missile Defense Agency’s spokesman. It was not a mock-up of an actual North Korean ICBM, and details of its exact capabilities weren’t made public.

Officially known as the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, the Pentagon likens the defensive tactic to hitting a bullet with a bullet. With congressional support, the Pentagon is increasing by the end of this year the number of deployed interceptors, based in California and Alaska, to 44 from the current total of 36.

While Tuesday’s test wasn’t designed with the expectation of an imminent North Korean missile threat, the military wants progress toward the stated goal of being able to shoot down a small number of ICBMs targeting the United States.

Laura Grego, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has criticized the missile defense program, called the interceptor an “advanced prototype,” meaning it is not fully matured technologically even if it has been deployed and theoretically available for combat since 2004. A successful test Tuesday, she said, could demonstrate the Pentagon is on the right track with its latest technical fixes.

“Overall,” she wrote in an analysis prior to the test, the military “is not even close to demonstrating that the system works in a real-world setting.”

The interceptors are, in essence, the last line of U.S. defense against an attack by an intercontinental-range missile.

The Pentagon has other elements of missile defense that have shown to be more reliable, although they are designed to work against medium-range or shorter-range ballistic missiles. These include the Patriot missile, which numerous countries have purchased from the U.S., and the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which the U.S. deployed this year to South Korea to defend against medium-range missiles from North Korea.
North Korea launches a Short-Range Ballistic missile near Wŏnsan towards the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea. The missile reportedly lands in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) after traveling 450 km.