DPRK launch to heighten tensions

A missile launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Sunday will renew tensions in the Korean Peninsula and heighten security fears across Northeast Asia, according to analysts.

The missile was launched at about 8 am from North Pyongan province, according to Yonhap News Agency, which quoted the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying the missile flew about 500 km before landing in the sea.

The launch is believed to be the first by the DPRK since Donald Trump took office as the US president in January.

Kim Kwan-jin, head of the ROK National Security Office, talked with his US counterpart Michael Flynn over the phone after the launch. The Associated Press quoted a statement from the ROK Presidential Office that said they agreed to explore every possible way to suppress DPRK provocations.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is visiting the US, said the launch was "absolutely intolerable", while Trump said his country is behind Japan "100 percent".

China has made no comment on the launch. The Foreign Ministry did not respond by press time.

Wang Junsheng, a researcher on Northeast Asia security at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the launch showed the DPRK wants to learn more about the Trump administration's approach to the Korean Peninsula.

After US Defense Secretary James Mattis visited the ROK this month, it was reported that a US destroyer could be stationed off the ROK's Jeju Island to deter the DPRK.

Yang Xiyu, an expert in Korean Peninsula affairs at the China Institute of International Studies, said the launch was partly to protest the US-ROK drill in March and the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense system.

The move could lead to destabilization in the peninsula and threaten China's security, Yang warned. The DPRK has frequently launched missiles and rockets over the past year, with Pyongyang claiming to have conducted a hydrogen bomb test in January last year.

Since 2006, the United Nations Security Council has adopted resolutions urging the DPRK to stop launching ballistic missiles and satellites as well as nuclear testing.

China has been calling for parties involved in the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue to practice restraint and solve issues through negotiation.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn