Following joint missile drills between the US and South Korea and the return of a US aircraft carrier to the area in reaction to Pyongyang’s most recent missile tests, North Korea has launched two short-range ballistic missiles in the direction of its east coast and Japan.
It was the first launch since Tuesday, when North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile over Japan, making it the sixth launch in the previous 12 days.
The launch was confirmed by the Japanese government and the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean military.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters, “This is the sixth time in this short period (…) This is simply intolerable.”
After North Korea criticised what the United States had said to the UN Security Council on “the response measures taken by the Korean People’s Army to the joint exercises between the United States and South Korea,” the launch took place roughly an hour later.
Pyongyang also criticised Washington for redeploying a US aircraft carrier known as the “American Monster” in the waters off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, saying that this poses a more serious threat to the stability of the situation, according to a statement released by the North’s Foreign Ministry.
After South Korea and the US conducted unusual missile drills east of North Korea, the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and its battle group were abruptly redeployed.
This is in retaliation for North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launch over Japan.
On Wednesday, the United States accused China and Russia of enabling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to block a move at the Security Council to impose more severe sanctions against Pyongyang due to its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Yasukazu Hamada, the Japanese defence minister, was quoted by Reuters as saying that Tokyo has sent a “strong complaint” to North Korea via envoys in Beijing.
He said, “The second missile flew at an estimated altitude of 50 km and travelled a distance of 800 km, and it is possible that it took an irregular path, whereas the first missile most likely flew at an altitude of around 100 km and covered a distance of 350 km.”
He told reporters that “North Korea has persistently and unilaterally upped its provocation, particularly since the beginning of this year.”
The two missiles were launched, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean army, from a location close to Pyongyang.
Message from North Korea
According to analysts, North Korea’s recent missile tests have helped the country develop new capabilities, operationalize more of its arsenal, and send a message that development is a sovereign right.
Resolutions passed by the UN Security Council that impose economic penalties on Pyongyang foreclose North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.
– According to Kim Dong-yub, a former officer in the South Korean Navy, the “Hwasong-12” medium-range ballistic missile, which North Korea unveiled in 2017 as part of its threats to attack US military posts in Guam, may have been the missile based on the initial flight parameters.
Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated that, in contrast to the typical very high trajectory, launching a missile at a great distance enables North Korean scientists to test missiles under more realistic conditions.
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