The U.S. government issued a terse response Tuesday to North Korea’s warning that its missile can reach the U.S. mainland, saying Pyongyang should first take care of its people in need.

“Well, certainly, rather than bragging about its missile capability, they ought to be feeding their own people, would be our first comment,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a press briefing.

The communist nation “needs to understand that it will achieve nothing by threats or provocations,” she added.

Nuland said, “That’s only going to undermine their efforts to get back in the conversation with the international community.”

In an unusual move, North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission said its “strategic rocket forces are keeping within the scope of strike” not only American military bases in South Korea but also Japan, Guam and the U.S. mainland.

The secretive nation often releases military threats against the South or the U.S. but it is rare to articulate that the U.S. is within the range of its missiles.

The North was apparently taking issue with an agreement between South Korea and the U.S. to extend the range of Seoul’s ballistic missiles up to 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the previous 300 km.

The maxium weight of payload for the extended range will remain unchanged at 500kg but heavier payloads can be used for missiles with shorter ranges, according to the fresh missile guidelines.

The range is enough to cover all of North Korea as well as parts of northeast China.

Nuland defended Washington’s decision to allow Seoul to bolster its missile capability despite concerns over a regional arms race.

“These changes in missile guidance are defensive in nature,” she said. “I would note that we haven’t changed these ranges or capabilities since 2001 at a time when the North had been very clearly working and boasting about their own capabilities,” she added. “So this is -- these are defensive moves on our part and are responsive in nature.”

In 1972, Seoul agreed to limit its ballistic missile range to 180 km in return for access to U.S. missile technology. The guidelines were revised in 2001.

Nuland would not go into details on the U.S. assessment of North Korea’s missile capability.

“I’m not going to get into intelligence here, you can imagine.,” she said. “But they know what they need to do if they want to get back into a conversation with us.”

In January last year, then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said North Korea was within five years of developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.

North Korea’s latest long-range rocket test in April ended in a failure.

The White House also indicated that it is skeptical about Pyongyang’s long-range missile capability.

“I would note that their most recent test of a ballistic missile was a notable failure,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters in a separate briefing.

He pointed out Pyongyang is required to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile programs under United Nations Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed worries over Pyongyang’s missile threats.

“I read the report and it is quite an alarming statement,” he was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP. “They should contribute to the reduction of tensions and this will only heighten tensions and create further distrust between South and North Korea,” he added.

Some North Korea experts played down Pyongyang’s statement as a bluff, at least for now.

“That’s been a desire or an objective, politically, for North Korean leadership for quite some time. But they have not demonstrated that capability,” Daniel Pinkston, director of the International Crisis Group’s North East Asia Program, told CNN.

“I don’t find that credible. But I do think they’re working toward acquiring that capability.” (Yonhap News)



<관련 한글 기사>



백악관 “北 최근 미사일실험 실패”


미국 정부는 9일(현지시간) 북한이 미국 본토에 닿을 수 있는 미사일을 보유하고 있다고 주장한 것에 대해 북한 주민의 안녕을 우선해야 한다고 촉구했다.

빅토리아 뉼런드 국무부 대변인은 이날 정례 브리핑에서 “(북한 정권은) 미사일 능력을 자랑하기보다는 무엇보다 자기 주민들을 제대로 먹여 살려야 할 것”이라고 지적했다.

뉼런드 대변인은 특히 “북한은 위협이나 도발로는 아무것도 얻을 수 없다는 사실을 알아야 한다”면서 “이는 국제사회와 대화에 복귀하기 위한 노력을 약화시킬 수 밖에 없다”고 비난했다.

그는 또 유엔 안전보장이사회 대북 결의안을 언급하면서 “북한은 탄도 미사일 프로그램과 관련한 모든 행동을 중단해야 한다”고 말했다.

그는 그러나 ‘북한의 미사일이 미국 본토까지 도달할 수 있느냐’는 질문에는 “정보 사안에 대해서는 말하지 않겠다”고 답변을 피한 뒤 “북한은 우리와 대화에 복귀하기 위해 무엇이 필요한지를 알고 있지만 그들은 주민들의 안녕을 챙기기보다 다른 것을 자랑하고 있다”고 거듭 비판했다.

제이 카니 백악관 대변인도 이날 정례브리핑에서 비슷한 질문에 구체적인 답변을 피했으나 “북한의 최근 탄도미사일 실험은 분명히 실패였다”고 밝혀 북한의 주장을 평가절하했다.

그는 또 “유엔 안보리는 1718호, 1874호 등 2개의 대북 결의안을 채택했다”면서 북한의 탄도미사일 프로그램 중단을 촉구했다.

한편 뉼런드 대변인은 이날 브리핑에서 최근 한국과 미국 양국의 미사일 지침 개정에 대해 방어적 차원임을 재차 강조했다.

그는 “북한이 자신들의 능력을 자랑하고 개발한 지난 2001년 이후 (한국군 미사일의) 사거리와 능력에는 전혀 변화가 전혀 없었다”면서 “이번 변화는 방어적이고 대응적인 차원”이라고 설명했다.

이에 앞서 북한은 이날 국방위원회 대변인 명의의 성명에서 한ㆍ미 양국의 한국군 탄도미사일 사거리 연장 합의에 대해 “조선군대는 미국 본토까지 명중타격권에 넣고 있다”고 위협했다.