N. Korea fires rocket seen as covert test

Nations fear goal is intercontinental nuclear missile

North Korea on Sunday launched what many international governments believe to be a banned test of ballistic missile technology, despite repeated calls to halt the planned mission.

The U. S. detected the missile launch from North Korea, a U. S. defense official told USA TODAY, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the incident publicly. Based on its trajectory, which the U. S. was tracking, the missile did not pose a threat to the U. S. or its allies.

The launch comes just weeks after North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test. International governments worry Pyongyang is getting closer to creating a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on an intercontinental missile capable of reaching targets as far away as the U. S. West Coast.

Sunday’s test “represents yet another destabilizing and provocative action,” U. S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said in condemning the launch.

South Korean President Park Geun- hye convened an emergency national security council meeting. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the launch a violation of U. N. agreements.

“We absolutely cannot allow this,” he told reporters, according to the Associated Press. “We will take action to totally protect the safety and well- being of our people.”

The United States, Japan and South Korea immediately requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, council diplomats told Reuters. The meeting was likely to take place Sunday in New York.

The rocket was launched on a southward trajectory, passing over Japan’s southern Okinawa islands, Japan’s NHK news agency reported.

The North claims its efforts are a benign attempt to develop the capability for putting satellites into space.

KOJI HARADA, AP Japan unloads a missile interceptor Saturday as a defensive measure ahead of North Korea’s planned rocket launch.