North Korea fires projectiles into sea after U.N. passes new sanctions

By Anna Fifield March 3

The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted to impose harsh new sanctions on North Korea. Hours after the sanctions were announced, South Korean officials said the North had fired several short-range projectiles. (Reuters)

TOKYO — North Korea fired six short-range projectiles into the Sea of Japan on Thursday, just hours after the United Nations passed sweeping new sanctions against Kim Jong Un’s regime as punishment for its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

It was not immediately clear what the projectiles were — but if they were missiles, it would be a clear contravention of U.N. resolutions and a sign that North Korea is spoiling for a fight.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it was investigating to see whether the projectiles were artillery rockets or short-range ballistic missiles. The projectiles were fired from Wonsan, a port city on North Korea’s east coast, about 10 a.m. local time, ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters in Seoul.

They flew as far as 100 miles before falling into the sea, according to local reports.

[U.N. adopts sweeping new sanctions on North Korea]

This appeared to be North Korea’s response to the U.N. Security Council’s unanimous adoption of harsh sanctions, some of the strongest measures ever used to pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

The new sanctions require cargo inspections for all goods going in and out of North Korea by land, sea or air, and the measures choke off supplies of most aviation fuel for the North’s armed forces. They also ban the sale of all small arms and conventional weapons to Pyongyang and prohibit transactions that raise hard cash for North Korea through sales of its natural resources.

The tough measures — which won the support of China and Russia, North Korea’s neighbors and closest allies — come after several provocations from the regime this year.

In January, Kim ordered North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, and its first in three years. The regime claimed it had detonated a hydrogen bomb, which would be exponentially more powerful than a traditional atomic weapon, but analysts said these claims appeared vastly exaggerated.

Just a month later, Kim oversaw the launch of a long-range rocket, ostensibly part of North Korea’s space research program but widely viewed as cover for its efforts to develop a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to the continental United States.

As the Security Council prepared to vote on the resolution Wednesday, North Korean news media reported that Kim had visited a factory that produces ballistic missiles and related armaments.

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