North Korea yesterday fired two ballistic missiles, South Korea and Japan said, in what would be its third weapons test this month, despite a fresh volley of US sanctions.
The latest launches came just hours after Pyongyang warned of a “stronger and certain” reaction to sanctions on five North Koreans linked to the country’s ballistic missile program.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from North Pyongan Province, adding that they were “analyzing the specifications.”
Photo: AFP
The weapons likely “fell outside” Japan’s territorial waters, Japanese Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi told reporters, adding that the repeated tests indicated that Pyongyang was “aiming to improve its launch technology.”
The missiles came hours after Pyongyang accused the US of “provocation” over fresh sanctions imposed this week in response to a string of weapons tests.
The launches were at 2:41pm and 2:52pm, with the weapons flying 430km at an altitude of 36km, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The South Korean National Security Council expressed “strong regret” over the missile launches, saying that they “do not contribute to stability on the Korean Peninsula at this important juncture.”
Pyongyang debuted a hypersonic missile in September last year, and carried out what it called two successful tests this month, as it looks to add the sophisticated weapon to its arsenal.
In response, the US imposed new sanctions on Pyongyang this week, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that North Korea was likely “trying to get attention” with the missile launches.
Pyongyang accused the US of “intentionally escalating” the situation, saying that it had a “legitimate right” to self-defense, a North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman told state media.
If “the US adopts such a confrontational stance, the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] will be forced to take stronger and certain reaction to it,” the spokesman said in comments carried by state news agency KCNA early yesterday.
The timing and location of the launch indicated that it was a response to the US sanctions, analysts said.
“It was carried out in a rush to signal to the US that it will be a tit-for-tat on sanctions,” said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korea Studies at the Sejong Institute.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul said that North Korea was trying to “lay a trap” for the US.
“It has queued up missiles that it wants to test anyway and is responding to US pressure with additional provocations in an effort to extort concessions,” he said.
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