The White House has condemned these new “ballistic missile firings”.
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles overnight from Monday to Tuesday July 25, according to Seoul, shortly before celebrations commemorating the end of fighting between the two Koreas. The two missiles traveled some 400 kilometers before falling into the sea, according to the South Korean Ministry of Defense quoted by Yonhap and the Japanese agency Kyodo.
The White House has condemned these new “ballistic missile fire”. The missile tests “pose a threat to the DPRK’s neighbors and the international community“, said Karine Jean-Pierre, spokeswoman for the White House, using the official name of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for Pyongyang.
Pyongyang regularly carries out missile tests. SATURDAY, “several cruise missiles” had been launched in the Yellow Sea, between the Korean peninsula and China.
Relations at an all-time low between the two Koreas
The firing of these last two ballistic missiles, before dawn on Tuesday, comes shortly before celebrations in North Korea of the 70th anniversary of the end of the fighting in the Korean War (1950-1953).
Beijing has confirmed that a Chinese delegation led by Politburo member Li Hongzhong will travel to North Korea to attend the event, which will be the first known visit by a foreign delegation since North Korea’s borders closed in early 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Relations between the two Koreas are currently at an all-time low, diplomacy stalled, with Kim Jong Un calling for an acceleration of the arms race, including tactical nuclear weapons. In response, Seoul and Washington conducted joint military exercises, incurring the ire of Pyongyang.