N Korea Missile Launch Underscores Need for Additional Nuclear Sanctions

The latest missile test by North Korea, its second in a week, highlights the need for the United States and others to seek additional sanctions over the country’s nuclear program, White House deputy press security Eric Schultz told reporters Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Late Wednesday, the US Strategic Command said it had detected the failed launch of what was presumed to be a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile. A similar and also unsuccessful launch was conducted Saturday.

"It…underscores the need for the UN Security Council to impose additional strong sanctions in response to the DPRK’s nuclear test on September 9,” Schultz said at an informal briefing.

Earlier, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said during a visit to Washington that the United States and his country would seek a new resolution in the United Nations Security Council to close existing loopholes and pursue additional sanctions to further isolate Pyongyang.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula intensified after North Korea claimed to have successfully exploded a nuclear warhead on September 9, having detonated a hydrogen bomb in January.