North Korea fired eight ballistic missiles in two weeks

Pyongyang is stepping up its military maneuvers. North Korea fired two new ballistic missiles on the night of Saturday October 8 to Sunday October 9. The scheme, which has carried out eight launches in two weeks, defended this recent acceleration of its armament tests as a “legitimate reaction” in the face of “direct military threats from the United States”.

The last two missiles were fired seaward from the southeast of the country, the South Korean military said. Japanese news agency Kyodo said Japanese Deputy Defense Minister Toshiro Ino said it was possible the missiles were launched by submarines. Their firing took place just before 2 a.m. (local time) and traveled 350 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 100 kilometers, he explained.

These seventh and eighth firings in two weeks come against a backdrop of growing tensions with the United States, which has intensified its joint military exercises with Seoul and Tokyo over the same period. For its part, North Korea has been conducting a record number of tests since the beginning of the year. The country adopted a new doctrine in September stating that its status as a nuclear power is “irreversible”ending any possibility of denuclearization talks.