DHAKA: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has hailed a submarine-launched ballistic missile test as an ‘eye-opening success’, declaring Pyongyang has the ability to strike Seoul and the US whenever it pleases.

North Korea the state media said, Al Jazeera publishes this report on Sunday (April 24).

The US, joined by Britain, said Saturday’s apparent test was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and called on the North to refrain from further moves that could destabilize the region.

South Korea's defence ministry said the launch appeared to have failed as the missile, fired from a submarine in the Sea of Japan, flew just 30km.

However, the North’s state-run KCNA news agency insisted that the test, which it said was personally monitored by Kim, confirmed ‘the reliability of the Korean-style underwater launching system’.

It cited the Korean leader as saying that Pyongyang ‘is now capable of hitting the heads of the South Korean puppet forces and the US imperialists anytime as it pleases’.

In another development on Saturday, North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Su Yong told the media in New York that his country is ready to halt nuclear tests if the US suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea.

North Korea made a similar demand in January after its fourth nuclear test.

Asked if the US would consider a halt, Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the State Department’s East Asia bureau, said the exercises demonstrate the US commitment to the alliance with South Korea and enhance ‘combat readiness’.

BDST: 1957 HRS, APR 24, 2016
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