Foreign Minister condemns latest North Korean missile tests

Marise Payne condemns fresh missile tests by North Korea, which it claims will allow it to it ‘totally destroy’ enemy targets in surprise attacks.

South Korea's military said North Korea on Thursday fired two projectiles toward its eastern sea, an apparent resumption of weapons tests aimed at ramping up pressure on Washington over a stalemate in nuclear negotiations. Picture: AP

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has condemned fresh ballistic missile tests by North Korea, which Pyongyang claims will allow it to it “totally destroy” enemy targets in surprise attacks.

North Korea conducted its third test-firing of a new “super-large” multiple rocket launcher on Thursday local time, with South Korean and Japanese militaries detecting two projectiles travelling more than 320km before landing in waters off the North’s eastern coast.

Senator Payne said the launches were in clear contravention of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

“The persistence with which North Korea engages in this destabilising behaviour is of increasing concern,” she said.

“Australia calls on North Korea to cease provocative actions that increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula and undermine regional peace and stability.”

The latest launches extended a month-long weapons display by the North, which continues to use a standstill in nuclear negotiations to advance its military capabilities while pressuring Washington for concessions.

The North Korean Academy of Defence Science test fires a super-large multiple rocket launcher at an undisclosed location in the North in October.

North Korea said it fired its “super-large multiple rocket launcher” – which it also tested on August 24 and September 10 – using the launcher’s “continuous-fire system”.

Senator Payne said North Korea should comply with the views of the international community on its nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

She said Australia backed diplomatic efforts by the US and South Korea to engage with the North’s Kim Jong-un regime, but declared: “Our support for diplomacy should not be seen by North Korea as silent approval of its ballistic missile launches.”

“Australia joins with many other nations in seeking permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, including the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea,” she said.

“In the meantime, we remain committed to maintaining sanctions and sanctions enforcement measures against North Korea.”

Senator Payne said Australia supplemented UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea with additional sanctions, which were kept under constant review.

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said President Kim expressed satisfaction over what North Korea described as a successful test of its new rocket artillery system, but it wasn’t clear whether the leader observed the launches on site.

The latest test verified the “perfection” of the system’s continuous firing ability that allegedly allows it to “totally destroy” enemy targets with “super power,” the agency said.

Experts say the North could continue to ramp up weapons demonstrations ahead of an end-of-year deadline set by President Kim for the US to offer mutually acceptable terms to salvage a fragile diplomacy strained by disagreements over sanctions relief and disarmament steps.

Thursday’s launches followed statements of displeasure by top North Korean officials over the slow pace of nuclear negotiations with the US and demands that President Donald Trump ease crippling sanctions and pressure on their country.

Kim Eun-han, spokesman of Seoul’s Unification Ministry, said South Korea has “strong concern” over the North’s weapons activity, but avoided a straightforward answer when asked about the possible impact on inter-Korean dialogue.

Earlier this month, the North test-fired an underwater-launched ballistic missile for the first time in three years.

The North has also tested new short-range ballistic missile and rocket artillery systems in recent months in what experts saw as an effort to use the standstill in talks to advance its military capabilities while increasing its bargaining power.

Negotiations have faltered after the collapse of a February summit between Kim Jong-un and Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, where the US rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for piecemeal progress toward partially surrendering its nuclear capabilities.

The North responded with intensified testing activity while Kim said he would “wait with patience until the end of the year for the United States to come up with a courageous decision”.

Washington and Pyongyang resumed working-level discussion in Sweden earlier this month, but the meeting broke down amid acrimony with the North Koreans calling the talks “sickening” and accusing the Americans of maintaining an “old stance and attitude”.