SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday in another show of force after the US and South Korea launched military drills, which Pyongyang sees as an invasion rehearsal, with its neighbors he said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missiles were launched from the southwestern coastal city of Jangyeong and flew over North Korea before landing in the sea off the country’s east coast. It also said that the South Korean military has strengthened its surveillance posture and maintained readiness in close coordination with the United States.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that authorities were still gathering details of the North Korean launches and there were no immediate reports of damage in Japanese waters.
Pyongyang could further ramp up its weapons tests in the coming days in response to military exercises by allies, which are planned to last until March 23. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to be ready. Called “fiery war preparation moves” by his country’s rivals.
Concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program have risen sharply after North Korea tested several missiles last year, many of them nuclear-capable missiles, and openly engaged in potential conflicts with the United States and South Korea. threatened to use them.
North Korea appears to be using long-stalled talks with the United States and expanded US-South Korean exercises as an opportunity to increase its weapons arsenal in order to prepare for future dealings with the United States. I can take advantage of it.
Threats from North Korea coupled with China’s growing assertiveness have prompted the United States to strengthen its alliances with South Korea and Japan. But some experts say a solid Washington-Seoul-Tokyo cooperation could prompt Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow to strengthen their own trilateral ties. China and Russia, embroiled in separate conflicts with the United States, have repeatedly blocked bids by the United States and its allies to toughen UN sanctions on North Korea.
North Korea said on Monday that it had tested two cruise missiles from a submarine. It implied that cruise missiles were being developed to carry nuclear warheads and claimed that the latest test verified the country’s posturing of “nuclear war deterrence”.
North Korea acquiring a submarine-launched missile system would be a dangerous development as the launch would be difficult to detect and would give the North a second strike capability to retaliate. However, experts say it will take years, extensive resources and major technological improvements for a nation with a massive sanction to build a fleet of submarines that can travel silently and carry out strikes.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that North Korea has been refining its submarine-launched capabilities since its first test in 2016 and asked the United States to assess what they mean in terms of the North’s capabilities. The US is studying Sunday’s launch.
“But certainly, we are not going to let any steps taken by North Korea deter us or compel us from the actions that we feel are necessary to protect stability on the Korean Peninsula,” Sullivan said.
The US-South Korea joint drills, which began on Monday, include computer simulations of North Korean aggression and other security scenarios and field exercises. According to South Korean defense officials, the field drills will return to the scale of the allies’ largest spring drills, last held in 2018.
Both countries have been expanding their drills since last year as North Korea tested more than 70 missiles in 2022. These included intercontinental ballistic missiles with the ability to reach the US mainland and short-range, nuclear-capable missiles that could target South Korea.
In their telephone talks on Monday, prominent South Korean and US nuclear envoys stressed that North Korea would face unspecified consequences for its provocations. According to Seoul’s foreign ministry, he urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and instead look after the livelihood of its people, whose decades-long preoccupation with nuclear weapons has contributed to its current economic difficulties and food shortages. has invited.
