Malcolm Turnbull has issued a stern warning to North Korea after it launched another missile over Japan, saying Kim Jong-Un would be ‘signing a suicide note’ if he started a war.
Pyongyang fired an unidentified missile on Friday, just hours after the rouge regime threatened to nuke Japan and reduce the US ‘to ashes and darkness’.
‘If Kim Jong-Un were to start a war, to attack the United States or one of its allies, he would be signing a suicide note,’ Mr Turnbull said on Friday.
‘That would be the end for his government and thousands and thousands of people would die.’
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (right) has again condemned North Korea’s actions after it launched another missile over Japan. Pictured left, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
Pyongyang fired an unidentified missile on Friday, just hours after the Kim Jong-un regime threatened to nuke Japan and reduce the US ‘to ashes and darkness’
‘If Kim Jong-Un were to start a war… he would be signing a suicide note,’ Mr Turnbull said on Friday. Above, a photo released by the North Korean Central News Agency earlier this year
Mr Turnbull emphasised Australia’s alliance with the US and how both nations would come to the other’s aid in the result of an attack.
‘This is another dangerous, reckless, criminal act by the North Korean regime, threatening the stability of the region and the world,’ he said earlier on Sky News.
‘This is a sign, I believe, of their frustration at the increased sanctions on North Korea recently imposed by the Security Council. It is a sign that the sanctions are working.
‘What we need to do is maintain the united global pressure on this rogue regime to bring it to its senses. I’m pleased the UN Security Council voted for these additional sanctions.’
The North Korean leader is pictured at the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army
Friday’s missile flew over Japan and the government warned citizens to avoid touching anything that looks like debris
North Korea is already under multiple UN sanctions but has still made rapid progress in its nuclear and missile programmes
The Security Council unanimously imposed an eighth set of sanctions on the rouge state on Monday, banning it from trading in textiles and restricting its oil imports.
It came just one month after the council banned exports of coal, lead and seafood in response to the launch of a previous missile.
‘It is tightening the sanctions on North Korea is the best prospect to bring the regime to its senses,’ Mr Turnbull added.
Friday’s missile flew over Japan, according to NHK television, and the government warned citizens to avoid touching anything that looks like debris.
‘Japan can never tolerate this repeated provocative action by North Korea,’ Tokyo’s government spokesman said.
‘We have strongly protested to the North, telling them the strong anger by the Japanese people and condemn with the strongest words possible.’
North Korea has shrugged off numerous sets of sanctions aimed at crimping its nuclear and missile programmes, and this month unveiled what it said was a working hydrogen bomb
South Korean warplanes recently conducted live-fire exercises in response to North Korea’s sixth nuclear test
The Security Council unanimously imposed an eighth set of sanctions on the rouge state on Monday. Pictured, South Korea’s Hyunmoo II ballistic missile is fired during an exercise earlier this month
The missile landed about 2000km off the cape of Erimo in Hokkaido island at about 6.57am local time.
Last week, the Turnbull government was considering how to evacuate the 200,000 Australians in north Asia should tensions with North Korea escalate into war.
Mr Turnbull said the risk of war was the greatest since the end of the Korean War and the government was developing emergency plans for Australians in the area.
Experts predict hundreds of thousands of people would be instantly killed if North Korea targeted one of Australia’s capital cities with a nuclear missile.
North Korea recently tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) that appear to bring much of the US within their maximum 10,000 kilometre range
Last week, the Turnbull government was considering how to evacuate the 200,000 Australians in north Asia should tensions with North Korea escalate into war
Experts predict hundreds of thousands of people would be instantly killed if North Korea targeted one of Australia’s capital cities with a nuclear missile