A US warship successfully shot down a target missile warhead over the Pacific Thursday in a test of a sea-based missile defence system, the US military said. For the first time in the US missile defence tests, a Japanese destroyer took part in the exercise, the military said.
The test came as the United States said Thursday that North Korea would have to pay a "cost" if it launched a long range missile. The US has said that North Korea is preparing to launch a multi-stage Taepodong-2 ballistic missile with a range of up to 6,700 kilometres (4,200 miles). US reports have said a launch was imminent.
US defence officials said the United States was ready to use its missile defence system if necessary against any threatening launch.
A North Korean missile test "would be a provocation and a dangerous action which would have to have some consequences." He told lawmakers "there would be a reaction, and it would be a mistake for North Korea to do it."
South Korea's Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said in Seoul that he did not believe a missile operation was imminent, but North Korea has received new warnings against making a launch.