North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Monday, the latest in a series of weapons tests in recent weeks, according to the South Korean military.
“Our armed forces detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from Junghwa area in North Hwanghae province at 07:47 a.m. in the direction of the East Sea,” said the Joint Chiefs of Staff South. Korean, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
The missiles each traveled about 370 kilometers, according to the same source, who added that it was a “serious provocative act undermining the peace and stability of the international community as well as the Korean peninsula. “.
The South Korean military also announced a strengthening of its surveillance against new launches, and maintaining its ability to “respond overwhelmingly to any provocation”.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense has also confirmed the launch. The two missiles would have flown on an irregular trajectory before falling outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, ministry officials quoted Japanese media as saying.
The launches come as Seoul and Washington conduct a joint amphibious landing exercise, just days after concluding their largest joint military drills in five years on Thursday.
An excuse for more shooting
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the US aircraft carrier Nimitz was due to arrive in the port city of Busan on Tuesday to bolster the joint defense posture.
The naval exercise aims to strengthen “broad deterrence through the deployment of US strategic assets in the face of growing nuclear and ballistic threats from North Korea”, a ministry official told reporters.
North Korean state media claimed on Friday that joint training between Seoul and Washington was preparation for the “occupation” of North Korea, which requires “stronger deterrents” in response, including “a more developed, more versatile and more offensive nuclear attack capability”.
The North Korean military conducted its own military exercises, including testing what it billed as a new “underwater nuclear attack drone”, and launching its second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the year.
Analysts had previously estimated that North Korea would probably use these exercises as a pretext to carry out new missile launches, or even a nuclear test.
North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency reported on Friday that the “underwater nuclear attack drone” drill, personally supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, was conducted “for the purpose of warning the ‘enemy against a real nuclear crisis’.
The purpose of this weapon is to “stealth into operational waters and produce a large-scale radioactive tsunami […] to destroy enemy naval attack groups and key operational ports,” KCNA added.
The agency also claimed that Pyongyang on Wednesday fired strategic cruise missiles “equipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead”.
“Irreversible” nuclear power
Analysts have cast doubt on North Korea’s claims, adding, however, that it is no longer just stockpiling nuclear warheads, but is trying to perfect and diversify means of launch.
After a record year of weapons testing and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022, Seoul and Washington have stepped up security cooperation.
North Korean military provocations have also pushed Seoul and Tokyo to move beyond their historic differences and try to strengthen their defense cooperation.
Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power, and leader Kim Jong Un recently called for an “exponential” increase in the production of weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons.
At the beginning of March, he also ordered his army to intensify its military maneuvers for a “real war”.