North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday, Seoul’s military said, the latest in a record-breaking flurry of launches as Pyongyang warned the US and its regional allies of a “tough” military response. What is it.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military “detected a short-range ballistic missile that was fired from the Wonsan area of ​​Gangwon Province at around 10:48 a.m. (0148 GMT).” .
“The army has increased surveillance and vigilance and is fully prepared in close coordination with the US,” it added.
Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden discussed North Korea’s recent missile tests with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
The US leader urged China to use its influence to rein in North Korea after a wave of missile launches raised fears the repressive regime could soon conduct its seventh nuclear test.
The White House said Biden also held talks with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Seok-yul and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday to discuss the threat posed by the North’s “illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.” Coping methods can be discussed.
On Thursday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui condemned the talks, saying they were “taking the situation on the Korean peninsula to an unexpected stage”.
“The US’s ‘extended deterrence offer’ and the daily increased military activity of allied forces around the Korean Peninsula are foolish actions,” Cho said in a statement carried by the state news agency.
Choi, referring to the North by its official name, said the more Washington works to strengthen its security alliance with Tokyo and Seoul, “the more intense the DPRK’s military confrontation will be”.
Experts said Thursday’s missile launch was timed according to Pyongyang’s foreign minister’s statement.
Cheong Seong Chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, told JEE News that the North launched the missile “after issuing a statement hours earlier in an attempt to justify the launch to send its message to the United States and Japan.”
United Nations Gridlock
Earlier this month, North Korea launched a series of launches, including a barrage on Nov. 2 in which Pyongyang fired 23 missiles — more than all of 2017, a year of “fire and fury” when Kim What was Barbus’ trade with then US President Donald Trump? .
The explosions came as hundreds of U.S. and South Korean warplanes – including B-1B heavy bombers – took part in joint air exercises that have long drawn a strong response from North Korea, which Sees them as a practice attack.
North Korea is seizing the opportunity to conduct banned missile tests, experts say, confident of avoiding further UN sanctions because of the gridlock at the United Nations over Ukraine.
China, Pyongyang’s main diplomatic and economic ally, joined Russia in May in vetoing a US-led effort at the UN Security Council to tighten sanctions on North Korea.
Washington has responded to North Korea’s sanctions-busting missile tests by ramping up exercises with South Korea and deploying a strategic bomber.
Pyongyang has also been under self-imposed coronavirus containment since early 2020, which experts say will limit the impact of any additional external sanctions.
“Choe Son-hui’s threatening statement and North Korea’s latest missile test are attempts to signal that Pyongyang will not back down under international pressure,” said Leif-Erik Eisley, a professor at Eva University in Seoul.
But he said it was clear that the summit between Biden, Yun and Kishida had taken “solid steps on trilateral coordination”, even as China’s Xi had “relative focus aggression” at the recent G20 summit. End your covid-related isolation.
“At some point, Chinese interests will prefer to put pressure on Pyongyang rather than be more strategically aligned with the US, South Korea and Japan,” Astley added.
