North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday in its second weapons test in three days that drew swift condemnation from its rivals.
The gunfire follows the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Saturday and North Korea’s threats to mount an unprecedentedly strong response to US-South Korean military exercises that the North sees as an invasion rehearsal. Some experts say North Korea could use a new wave of tests to expand its arsenal and eventually intends to use its enhanced capability as leverage in negotiations with the United States.
The South Korean military said it detected the two missile launches from a western coastal city just north of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on Monday morning. Japan said both missiles landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan and no damage was reported to aircraft and ships in the area.
According to Japanese and South Korean assessments, the North Korean missiles flew at a maximum altitude of 50 to 100 kilometers (30 to 60 miles) and a distance of 340 to 400 kilometers (210 to 250 miles).
The South Korean military called North Korea’s repeated missile launches “a serious provocation” that undermines international peace. Japan condemned the launches as a threat to the peace and security of Japan and international society.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the missile launches highlight “the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s illegal weapons programs. He said that US commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan “remain steadfast.”
North Korean state media said long-range artillery units on its west coast fired two rounds across the country into eastern waters Monday morning, possibly referring to the same activity its neighbors said were shell drops. missiles. The Korean Central News Agency said North Korean artillery shells simulated attacks on targets up to 395 kilometers (245 miles) away.
North Korea said the launches involved its new 600mm multiple rocket launch system that could be armed with “tactical” nuclear weapons for battlefield use. Some experts viewed the weapon system as a short-range ballistic missile.
“The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends on the character of action of US forces,” Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement carried by state media. “We are very aware of the movement of US forces’ strategic strike assets, (which) are recently accelerating around the Korean peninsula.”
Calling the United States “the worst maniacs”, he threatened to take unspecified “corresponding countermeasures” in response to future US military moves.
He could be referring to the US flyby of B-1B long-range supersonic bombers on Sunday for separate training with South Korea and Japan. The deployment of B-1Bs came in response to North Korea’s launch of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday in the country’s first missile test since Jan. 1.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to the deployment of B-1B bombers, which can carry a huge payload of conventional weapons.
North Korea’s state media said on Sunday the ICBM test was meant to further bolster its “fatal” nuclear strike capability and verify the weapon’s reliability and combat readiness of the country’s nuclear force. In his earlier statement on Sunday, Kim Yo Jong threatened to take further powerful action on upcoming US-South Korean military exercises.
North Korea has strongly criticized the regular military exercises by South Korea and the United States as practice for an invasion to the north, though the allies say their exercises are defensive in nature. Some observers say North Korea often uses its rivals’ exercises as a pretext to fine-tune and perfect its weapons systems.
The South Korean and US militaries plan to hold a simulation exercise this week to hone a joint response to a possible use of nuclear weapons by North Korea. The allies will also conduct another computer-simulated joint exercise and field training in March.
Hours after the launches Monday, South Korea’s foreign ministry said Seoul imposed unilateral sanctions on four people and five institutions it said were involved in illegal activities that supported the North’s development of nuclear weapons and the evasion of sanctions. While the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has so far sanctioned 31 individuals and 35 organizations for supporting the North’s nuclear ambitions, such moves are seen as mostly symbolic given the lack of commercial activities between the rivals.
North Korea has claimed to have missiles capable of attacking both the US and South Korea with nuclear weapons, but many foreign experts have said that North Korea still has some key technologies remaining to master, such as shrinking warheads sufficiently too small to mount on missiles. and ensure that those warheads survive atmospheric re-entry.
In his statement on Monday, Kim Yo Jong reiterated that North Korea has re-entry vehicle technology. He also responded to South Korean experts who questioned whether North Korea’s ICBMs would be functional in real war situations.
Kim Yo Jong insisted that the nine hours of launch preparation time after his brother Kim Jong Un ordered it included efforts to seal off the launch site and evacuate people, and were not long due to the shortcomings of the launch itself. missile system.
Last year, North Korea set an annual record by launching more than 70 missiles. North Korea has said that many of those weapons tests were a warning about previous military exercises by the United States and South Korea. It also passed a law that allows it to preemptively use nuclear weapons in a wide range of scenarios.
Kim Jong Un entered 2023 with a call for an “exponential increase” in the country’s nuclear warheads, the mass production of tactical battlefield nuclear weapons against South Korea, and the development of more advanced ICBMs against the US. USA
