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UN Security Council to hold emergency session over N.Korea missile launch

The Council will convene on a request from the United States, Japan and South Korea

© Spencer Platt/Getty Images

UN, November 29. /TASS/. The UN Security Council will gather for an emergency session on Wednesday to discuss the latest missile launch by North Korea, the US Mission to the UN said on Tuesday.

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North Korea launches ballistic missile

The Security Council session will be held on Wednesday, November 29, around 4:30 p.m. EST (00:30 Moscow time Thursday) in an open chamber. The Council will convene on a request from the United States, Japan and South Korea "in response to North Korea’s latest test of an intercontinental ballistic missile," the US Mission said.

According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, North Korea launched its missile late on Tuesday (Wednesday local time). The missile, believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), flew at the altitude of more than 4,000 km, covered the distance of about 1,000 km and splashed down in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, some 250 km off the coast of Japan’s northern prefecture of Aomori.

According to South Korea’s Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff, the launch was carried out at 03:17 local time [21.17 Moscow time] from the South Pyongan Province toward the Sea of Japan. The missile flew eastward, covering the distance of 960 km, at the altitude of up to 4,500 km.

This is North Korea’s first missile launch after a 75-day pause. UN Security Council resolutions prohibit Pyongyang from carrying out any activities related to the development of nuclear weapons and vehicles for their delivery. Pyongyang does not recognize those documents, citing the right to defend itself against the background of the current hostile policies by Washington.

In July, North Korea made two test launches of ballistic missiles. On August 29 and September 15, it launched two missiles which flew over Japan and on September 3 it announced a successful test of a hydrogen bomb.

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