(Seoul) North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles early Wednesday, the second such test in a week, the South Korean military said.
Kim Jong-un’s nuclear-armed regime has carried out dozens of launches this year.
Experts say they may be linked to North Korea’s alleged supply of munitions and missiles to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. The West accuses Pyongyang of supplying weapons to Russia, which it denies.
Kim Jong-un officially gave up any hope of reunification in January 2024 and dissolved all institutions responsible for relations with Seoul, calling South Korea his “main enemy”.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that it had “detected and [être en train d’]analyze several short-range ballistic missiles launched toward the northeast at around 6:50 a.m. local time (5:50 p.m. Eastern Time) Wednesday.
“In anticipation of further launches, our armed forces have increased their surveillance and vigilance, while closely sharing information” with their Japanese and American allies, he added.
Tokyo confirmed the launches, while the Japanese coast guard said a missile had already crashed into the sea.
“Ships are requested to pay attention to the information they receive and, if they see any fallen projectiles, not to approach them, but to report it to the coastguard,” they said in a statement.
Last Thursday, North Korea had already fired multiple “short-range ballistic missiles” towards the sea, according to Seoul, which was its first major weapons test since early July.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency later claimed it was a test of a “new type of 600mm multiple rocket launcher” supervised by Kim Jong-un.
In addition to these launches, North Korea has sent nearly 5,000 balloons loaded with waste toward the South since May.
In response, Seoul has resumed broadcasting propaganda through loudspeakers along the border, completely suspended a 2018 agreement aimed at preventing clashes between the two militaries and resumed live-fire drills on border islands and near the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean Peninsula.
Links with Moscow
North Korea has recently strengthened its military ties with Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin making a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, during which he signed a mutual defense agreement with Kim Jong-un.
Experts say North Korean missiles are deployed in Ukraine, and last week a new report from Conflict Armament Research used debris analysis to show that “missiles produced this year in North Korea are being used” in Russia’s offensive against Kyiv.
According to the KCNA news agency, Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang last week where he held talks with Kim Jong-un.
“Given the resurgence of war in Ukraine and Shoigu’s recent visit to North Korea, the latest missile launches could be linked to [de futures] exports [d’armemement] “towards Russia,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
The launches may also be aimed at “spreading concern among the South Korean public, in line with the recent release of balloons carrying trash,” he added.
North Korea on Friday released images for the first time that it claims are of its uranium enrichment facilities, during a visit by Kim Jong-un who called for a boost to the country’s nuclear capabilities.
Pyongyang, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and is subject to numerous UN sanctions over its banned weapons programs, had never publicly displayed these facilities until now.
North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs are under UN sanctions, but the country ignores these restrictions, thanks in part to the support of its allies Russia and China.