Sudden rise of tensions in East Asia. North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday, March 24, which arrived in Japan’s exclusive economic maritime zone, breaking a moratorium it had imposed on itself since 2017 on this type of weapon test. Tokyo immediately condemned an act “unforgivable”. Franceinfo summarizes the situation in three questions.
What happened ?
It all started with an alert issued Thursday morning by the South Korean army, which initially reported the firing by Pyongyang of a “unidentified projectile” heading east. A few minutes later, Japan reported that the projectile, after flying for 71 minutes, had finished its course at 3:44 p.m. (7:44 a.m. in Paris) in its territorial waters, about 150 km from the Oshima peninsula (northern island of Hokkaido).
South Korean President Moon Jae-in quickly confirmed, in a statement, that the projectile launched Thursday afternoon by Pyongyang towards the Sea of Japan was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM, for InterContinental Ballistic Missile). It’s about “A break in the suspension of intercontinental ballistic missile launches promised by President Kim Jong Un to the international community”he lamented.
In what context does this shooting take place?
United Nations resolutions prohibit North Korea, hit by heavy international sanctions for its nuclear and weapons programs, from testing ballistic missiles. Officially, the country has also self-imposed a moratorium on this subject in 2018. The fact that the missile fired Thursday morning is an ICBM is anything but trivial: if Pyongyang has carried out a dozen shots since the start of the year, so far they were not intercontinental missiles, although Washington and Seoul suspected the North Korean regime of having tested some ICBM systems during these launches.
Kim Jong Un said last year that improving the country’s military capabilities was a priority for the regime. Among the stated priorities: to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying several conventional or nuclear warheads, each following an independent trajectory, difficult to intercept by the United States’ anti-missile systems.
This test also comes as South Korea is in a period of presidential transition. The outgoing head of state, Moon Jae-in, is due to hand over his seat in May to the conservative Yoon Suk-yeol, elected at the beginning of the month and who has promised to adopt a tougher line in the face of provocations from the North.
Many analysts expected Pyongyang, which will celebrate the 110th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder and grandfather of Kim Jong Un, on April 15, to put on a show of force to mark this party, the most important of the North Korean political calendar.
What were the reactions?
The launch of this intercontinental ballistic missile, which fell Japanese waters, is “a scandalous and unforgivable act“, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida from Brussels, where he was to meet the other heads of state and government of the G7.
“[La Corée du Nord] threatens the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community. This is unacceptable”
Fumio Kishida, Japanese Prime Minister
The South Korean army has for its part announced that it has fired several missiles in response to the provocations of its neighbor.
The United States declared for its part to condemn “with force” the shot made by Pyongyang, and assured that they will take “all necessary measures to ensure the security of the United States, South Korea and Japan”, according to a statement issued by the White House. This North Korean shot “is an insolent violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and unnecessarily increases tensions” in the region, added US executive spokeswoman Jen Psaki.