North Korea launched what Seoul claimed was a ballistic missile on Wednesday, a week after its leader Kim Jong Un promised to accelerate the development of the country’s nuclear arsenal.
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This new weapons test comes as South Korea and the United States expect Pyongyang to resume its nuclear tests stopped in 2017.
The North Korean regime had already broken a five-year moratorium on its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests in March by launching a powerful projectile capable of reaching the United States.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Wednesday that a “ballistic missile launch by North Korea at 12:03 p.m.” from Sunan, north of Pyongyang, towards the Sea of Japan.
The Japanese coast guard also announced the firing by North Korea of a “potential ballistic missile”.
Despite severe international sanctions, North Korea has redoubled its efforts in recent months to modernize its army, and has carried out more than a dozen test firings since the beginning of the year.
At a grand military parade on April 25, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to “strengthen and develop our nation’s nuclear capabilities at an accelerated pace.”
“Nuclear weapons, a symbol of our national strength and at the center of our military power, must be enhanced in terms of quality and range,” he said.
“Life buoy”
A few days later, he called the nuclear weapon “a lifeline guaranteeing the security of our country”, and threatened to use it “as a preventive measure”.
Numerous diplomatic talks aimed at convincing Pyongyang to give up the atomic bomb have stalled since the failure in 2019 of a meeting between Kim Jong Un and then-US President Donald Trump.
“There is a good chance that they tested (on Wednesday) a missile that could be equipped with a nuclear warhead,” Ahn Chan-il, a researcher specializing in North Korean affairs, told AFP.
The new launch also comes less than a week before the inauguration of new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative who has promised to be tougher on his northern neighbor.
The missile test “could be a warning” for Mr Yoon, said Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification, saying that Pyongyang will never accept the main condition set by the new South Korean leader for resume peace talks, namely the renunciation of nuclear weapons.
“It could also be a signal from Pyongyang that it has no choice but to strengthen its arsenal if Seoul and Washington decide to deploy strategic armaments in the South,” added this analyst.
US President Joe Biden is due to visit South Korea at the end of May.