North Korea fires new missiles, seventh launch in two weeks

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday morning, the South Korean army reported, in a context of tensions over military exercises led by USA in the region.

The South Korean military said on Sunday that they had “detected two short-range ballistic missiles between 01:48 a.m. and 01:58 a.m. (local time) fired from the Munchon area in Kangwon province” into the South Korean Sea. Japan.

The missiles “flew approximately 350 km at a height of 90 km,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, calling the launch a “serious provocation.”

This is the seventh missile launch in two weeks.

Japan it also confirmed the launches, and its coast guard indicated that the missiles fell outside Japan’s economic exclusion zone.

Japanese Deputy Defense Minister Toshiro Ino said “either of the two may have been a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).”

Seoul said in September that it had detected signs that the North was preparing to launch an SLBM, a weapon Pyongyang tested in May.

“Tactical nuclear” drills

Later Monday morning (North Korea time), the state news agency KCNA explained that the recent North Korean missile launches were all “tactical nuclear” exercises personally watched by leader Kim Jong Un.

“The units of the Korean People’s Army in charge of the use of tactical nuclear weapons organized military exercises from September 25 to October 9 to verify and evaluate the country’s nuclear deterrence and counterattack capacity, which constitutes a stern warning to enemies. “KCNA posted.

The agency added that “Kim Jong UnGeneral Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and Chairman of its Central Military Commissionguided the military maneuvers on the site”.

At a party congress in January 2021, Kim outlined a five-year military plan in which he called for the development of smaller, lighter nuclear weapons for “more tactical uses.”

South Korea, Japan y USA intensified combined naval exercises in recent weeks, angering the North, which sees the exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion and thus justified its missile launches.

According to the KCNA, the surge in recent trials was a response to maneuvering by the three countries.

maneuvers

The American Indo-Pacific Command It said in a statement that it was “aware of the launch of the two ballistic missiles and is in consultation with our allies and partners.”

He said the launch reflects the “destabilizing” nature of the missile program. north korean.

Sunday’s launches are the latest in a wave that includes intermediate-range ballistic missiles fired over Japan, prompting many people to seek cover.

Thursday, Pyongyang fired two ballistic missiles, on the same day of the joint maneuvers of Seoul, Tokyo and Washington with the presence of a naval destroyer of the US aircraft carrier strike group “USS Ronald Reagan”.

Las south korean armed forces They said they moved 30 fighters on Thursday after two North Korean military planes carried out a “formation flight north of the inter-Korean air boundary.”

USA moved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to waters south of South Korea as part of a broader response to the North Korean shooting on Tuesday.

Analysts have said that Pyongyang he feels “emboldened” to continue with his weapons tests, and trusts that the paralysis in the UN will prevent the application of new sanctions.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the missiles may have been launched to demonstrate the “military readiness” of North Korea.

“The Kim regime is trying to coerce Seoul, Tokyo and Washington into abandoning their trilateral security cooperation,” he added.

However, at an emergency meeting of the National Security Council in Seoul following the missile test, South Korean officials pledged to strengthen such cooperation, according to a statement.

The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting last week to discuss launching a missile on Japan, but at the meeting, China accused Washington of provoking the series of launches and “poisoning the regional security environment.”

The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called for “strengthening” existing sanctions against North Koreasomething that China and Russia vetoed in May.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared that his country’s status as a nuclear power is “irreversible,” thus ruling out the possibility of holding talks on its denuclearization.

“A barrage of missile tests like the one we’ve seen could indicate a readiness for a nuclear test, but it’s hard to predict when they will do so. A test can take place almost immediately after Kim orders it,” he told the press. AFP security analyst Ankit Panda.

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