North Korea on Sunday launched a long-range rocket, defying international warnings in a step condemned as cover for a banned test of technology for a missile that could strike the continental United States.
South Korean officials confirmed the launch, which about two hours after an eight-day launch window opened Sunday morning, the Associated Press reported. North Korea claimed last month lo have tested a hydrogen bomb, though the U.S. has questioned the claim.
The new test is likely draw more sanctions and condemnation from the United Nations. North Korean uses rocket and nuclear tests in a bid to develop a nuclear arsenal that can threaten the U.S. and other countries.
Leader Kim Jong-un has overseen two of the North’s four nuclear tests and three long-range rocket tests since taking over after the death of his father, dictator Kim Jong Il, in late 2011, the AP noted.
North Korea claims its rocket launches are satellite missions, but the U.S., South Korea call them covert tests of ballistic missile technology.
During a Republican debate Saturday night, GOP presidential candidates, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said they would consider a pre-emptive strike against North Korea.
“The United States must act decisively to contain this threat by deploying anti-missile systems that protect our regional allies, and by banning North Korea from the world financial system so it can’t profit from its missile sales,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich said in a statement earlier Saturday. “The Obama Administration’s do-nothing policy toward North Korea is failing and must be reversed by standing up to the world’s bullies to project American power, protect our way of life and promote stability in an increasingly chaotic world.”
