North Korea may spur US missile buildup in Asia

North Korea’s latest rocket launch might kick off a buildup of US missile defence systems in Asia, US officials and missile defence experts said, something that could further strain US-China ties and also hurt relations between Beijing and Seoul.

North Korea says it put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, but the US and its allies see the launch as cover for Pyongyang’s development of ballistic missile technology that could be used to deliver a nuclear weapon. Washington sought to reassure its allies South Korea and Japan of its commitment to their defence after the launch, which followed a North Korean nuclear test on January 6.

The United States and South Korea said they would begin formal talks about deploying the sophisticated Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD, to the Korean peninsula “at the earliest possible date.” South Korea had been reluctant to publicly discuss the possibility due to worries about upsetting China, its biggest trading partner.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned North Korea’s latest rocket launch and promised to take punitive ste-ps, while Washington vow-ed to ensure the 15-nation body imposed “serious consequences” on Pyongyang as soon as possible.

“The members of the Security Council strongly condemned this launch,” Venezuelan Ambassador Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreno, president of the council this month, told reporters. He said the launch was “a serious violation.” He added that the 15-nation council “restated their intent to develop significant measures in a new Security Council resolution in response to the nuclear test” in January, as well as Sunday’s rocket launch. He said they would work “expeditiously.” Standing alongside her Japanese and South Korean counterparts, US ambassador Samantha Power told reporters: “We will ensure that the Security Council imposes serious consequences.”