Up front, a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile is paraded on a transporter erector launcher South Korean officials believe was rebuilt from a truck jointly produced by the North and Russian Federation.
The U.N. Security Council has issued a strongly worded condemnation of the latest North Korean missile launch after the US agreed to Russia's request to include a call for "dialogue" with Pyongyang in the text.
The council said North Korea's illegal missile and nuclear activities "are greatly increasing tension in the region and beyond" and expressed "utmost concern" at its "highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance" of six United Nations sanctions resolutions.
Since the North's first nuclear test in 2006, the council has adopted six resolutions, all banning Pyongyang from any ballistic missile activity over concern the technology could be used in making nuclear missiles. It has claimed that a new weapon that has recently been completed by the North Korean forces can "reduce to ashes" major parts of the U.S. Clearly, the threat and the warning of use of force is not going down well with the U.S., South Korea or any nations that are averse to the use of nuclear warfare.
Japan and South Korea are both allies of the United States, which has said "all options are on the table", including military ones, in dealing with Pyongyang.
North Korea carried out a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after displaying missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.
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The council also warned the North of "further significant measures, including sanctions".
A video posted on local news site DVHab.ru showed a train carrying heavy military equipment, including Tor surface-to-air missile systems, traveling through the city of Khabarovsk - purportedly moving south toward Vladivostok, which is 160 kilometers from the border. A US defense official told CNN that China put its cruise missile-capable bombers on "high alert" on Wednesday and appears to be conducting intense maintenance on a large number of military aircraft.
Russian Federation wanted to include language contained in previous statements and resolutions stressing the need to achieve a peaceful solution "through dialogue".
It was revealed earlier this week that a USA aircraft carrier group led by the USS Carl Vinson would spend another 30 days at sea before heading towards North Korean waters.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China believed in the Security Council maintaining unity.
Meanwhile, a U.S. naval strike group is on its way to the western Pacific Ocean in a bid to provide its presence near the Korean Peninsula amid concerns over Pyongyang's missile tests.
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