Go to contents

Pompeo: The North's launch did not involve ICBM

Posted May. 07, 2019 07:47,   

Updated May. 07, 2019 07:47

한국어

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday (local time) that he is strongly confident that the recently launched short-range missile by North Korea is not an intermediate, long-range or intercontinental ballistic missile. He added that the moratorium on North Korea’s nuclear testing and missile launches is focused on ICBMs that pose a concrete threat to the United States.

Although the North launched a missile on Saturday in one year and five months, Pompeo suggested that Washington would maintain the dialogue front with Pyongyang, stressing that ICBMs that can threaten the U.S. mainland are considered the red line that is not to be crossed.

In his interviews with ABC, CBS and Fox News on Sunday, Pompeo said, "They landed in the water east of North Korea and didn't present a threat to the United States or to South Korea or Japan." He added that Washington would use every diplomatic tool at his disposal to ensure denuclearization.

Some experts have analyzed that there is a gap in assessing the level of North Korea’s provocation between South Korea and the United States regarding the North’s short-range missile launch. Presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung revealed on Saturday that the South Korean government calls on North Korea to refrain from any act that increases military tension on the Korean Peninsula. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in dilemma by being sandwiched between Washington and Pyongyang could be in deeper dilemma as his administration marks the second anniversary on Thursday.


hic@donga.com · lightee@donga.com