[ad_1]
North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles into eastern waters in its latest weapons display on Saturday, a day after rival South Korea launched a solid-fuel rocket as part of efforts to build space-based surveillance capabilities to better monitor it. North.
Tensions between the rival Koreas rose earlier this week when South Korea accused North Korea of flying five drones across the rival’s tense border for the first time in five years and responded by sending its own drones to the North.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected three launches from an inland area south of Pyongyang, the North’s capital, on Saturday morning.
It said the three missiles traveled about 350 kilometers before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The estimated range refers to the missile that was tested against the South Korean target.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a “serious provocation” that undermined international peace. It said South Korea closely monitors North Korea’s movements in coordination with the United States and maintains readiness to “extremely” prevent North Korean provocations.
US commitment to South Korea, Japan ‘ironclad’
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the launch highlighted the “destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s illicit weapons program and that US commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan “remains strong.” Earlier on Saturday, Japan’s Defense Ministry also reported an alleged ballistic missile launch by North Korea.
It was North Korea’s first missile launch in eight days and came five days after South Korea said it detected North Korean drones, all believed to be small surveillance drones, south of the border.
South Korea’s military on Monday seized fighter jets and helicopters, but failed to shoot down a North Korean drone before it returned home or disappeared from South Korea’s radar. One of the North Korean drones reached northern Seoul. That led to security concerns among people in the south, for which the military issued a public apology on Tuesday.
South Korea still flew three surveillance drones over the border on Monday in an unusual tit-for-tat move against North Korean provocations. South Korea on Thursday held a large-scale military exercise to simulate drones.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has asked to boost his country’s air defense network and promised to deal with provocations from North Korea.
Since taking office in May, Yoon’s government has expanded regular military exercises with the US in the face of North Korea’s increasing nuclear threat. North Korea has called the drills between its rivals an invasion drill and said the new missile test was in response. But some experts say North Korea is using the South Korea-US drills as a pretext to modernize its arsenal and increase its influence in relations with the US.
More than 70 North Korean tests by 2022
Before Saturday’s launch, North Korea had tested more than 70 missiles this year. Most of them are nuclear weapons designed to attack the US mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan.
On Friday, South Korea launched a solid-fueled rocket, the type of space launch vehicle that will be used to put the first spy satellite into orbit in the coming years.
In March, South Korea conducted its first successful launch of a solid-fuel rocket, and defense officials said Friday’s launch was a follow-up test to a previous launch. Friday’s unannounced launch fueled public fears of UFO sightings or North Korean missiles being fired at South Korea.
South Korea currently has no military surveillance satellites of its own and relies on US spy satellites to monitor strategic facilities in North Korea.
North Korea is also pushing to acquire its first military surveillance satellite. Earlier this month, North Korea said it used two old missiles as space launch vehicles to test cameras and other systems needed for spy satellites and later released low-resolution satellite photos showing cities in South Korea.
Some South Korean experts say North Korea’s satellite imagery is too crude for military reconnaissance purposes and is likely a test of North Korea’s missile technology. Angered by the assessment, Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, hurled harsh insults at an unidentified South Korean expert. He also dismissed some outside doubts about North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile technology and threatened to conduct a standard trajectory ICBM test.
This week, North Korea held a meeting of its ruling party in Pyongyang to review past policies and new policy goals for 2023. It is not uncommon for North Korea to attempt a missile launch while holding an important meeting.
In a sign that the Labor Party’s plenary meeting is wrapping up, Northern state media reported on Saturday that the powerful Politburo has decided to finalize the draft resolution of the plenary meeting.
Some observers say North Korea will publish details of the meeting on Sunday, which will fulfill Kim Jong-un’s vow to expand its nuclear arsenal and introduce advanced weapons in the name of countering what it says is US hostility.
[ad_2]
Source link