North Korea launches ballistic missile into sea in response to U.S.-South Korea drills

North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, ramping up test activity in response to U.S.-South Korean military drills seen as invasion exercises.

The North’s continued missile tests show its determination not to back down, despite US-South Korea drills, the biggest in years. But many experts say the test is also part of North Korea’s larger goal of expanding its weapons arsenal, gaining international recognition as a nuclear power and calling for the lifting of international sanctions.

A missile fired from the North’s northwestern Tongchangri region flew over the country before landing in waters off its east coast, according to South Korean and Japanese assessments. He said the missile reached a range of about 800 kilometers, a range that suggests the weapon could target South Korea.

Top nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan and the US discussed the launch on the phone and strongly condemned it as a provocation that threatened peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region. They agreed to strengthen coordination to issue a firm international response to the North’s actions, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.

The exercises will continue, South Korea said

South Korea’s military said it would continue joint exercises with the US and maintain readiness to “extremely” respond to any provocation by North Korea. As part of the drills, the US on Sunday flew at least one B-1B long-range bomber for a joint aerial exercise with South Korean fighter jets, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry.

North Korea is particularly sensitive to the deployment of the B-1B, which can carry large payloads of conventional weapons. It responded to a B-1B flight in February with a test-launched missile, the range of which showed it could reach several military air bases in South Korea.

Japan’s Deputy Defense Minister Toshiro Ino said the missile landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone and there were no reports of damage to ships or aircraft in the area. He said the missile showed an irregular trajectory, possibly a reference to North Korea’s KN-23 cruise missile, which is capable of carrying nuclear weapons modeled on Russia’s Iskander missile.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said the latest launch did not pose an immediate threat to US or allied territory. But it said the North’s recent launches highlighted the “destabilizing impact of its illegitimate weapons program” and that US security commitments to South Korea and Japan remained “ironclad”.

The launch was the North’s third weapons test since the US and South Korean militaries began joint military exercises last Monday. The training, which includes computer simulations and field exercises, continues until Thursday. Field training is the biggest since 2018.

North Korea’s recently tested weapons include the longest-range Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the US mainland. The North’s state media quoted leader Kim Jong-un as saying the ICBM launch was intended to “strike fear into the enemy.”

70 launched last year

Thursday’s launch, the North’s first ICBM launch in months, drew strong protests from Seoul, Tokyo and Washington because it came just hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol flew to Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

During the summit, Yoon and Kishida agreed to continue defense dialogue and further strengthen security cooperation with the United States to counter North Korea and address other challenges.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have suffered a major setback in recent years due to problems stemming from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45.

But North Korea’s record missile tests last year – launching more than 70 missiles by 2022 – have prompted Seoul and Tokyo to seek a stronger trilateral security partnership with Washington, which also wants to strengthen alliances in Asia to counter China’s rise and North Korea’s nuclear threat. .

North Korea has a missile that puts Japan at long range. Last October, North Korea fired a medium-range missile into northern Japan, forcing communities there to issue evacuation alerts and halting trains.

After Sunday’s launch, Kishida ordered a swift response, including cooperation with South Korea and the US, according to Ino, Japan’s deputy defense minister.

A day before the drills began, North Korea also fired a cruise missile from a submarine. The North’s state media said the submarine-launched missile was a demonstration of its determination to respond with “extremely strong” force to increased military maneuvers by “US imperialists and South Korean puppet forces.”

According to South Korean media reports, the US and South Korea are planning more exercises involving US aircraft carriers this month after the current exercise ends. This suggests hostilities on the Korean Peninsula could last for several more weeks as North Korea is also expected to respond to the drills with weapons tests.