North Korea fires ballistic missiles early Thursday as UN Security Council members debated how to respond to a previous launch over Japan.
Hours after the USS Ronald Reagan, an American aircraft carrier returned to waters near South Korea for more trilateral naval training. North Korea conducted its sixth ballistic missile test in 12 days.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said Thursday that the volley of missile fire was “absolutely unacceptable.”
Yasukazu Hamada, Japan’s defense minister said the newest missiles “likely went on an abnormal trajectory” and that the increase of “provocative measures” threatens Japan’s, the region’s, and the international community’s peace and security.
Thursday, that launched two different kinds of missiles. One flew 350 km at an altitude of 80 km, while the other flew 800 km at an altitude of 60 km (JCS).
They were fired from North Korea’s Samchok neighborhood in Pyongyang, between 6:00 and 6:23 a.m. local time, JCS reported, marking that had explicitly named the neighborhood’s first time.
Kishida of Japan and Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea spoke over the phone for twenty-five minutes on Thursday evening, during which they both strongly criticized the North Korean action. According to Seoul’s top office, the leaders called the missile tests “reckless” and vowed to make it plain to Pyongyang that aggression would be dealt with consequences.
North Korea Stops Being Quiet
In its first comment since the ballistic missile tests started on September 25, North Korea’s foreign ministry used state media KCNA on Thursday to make a short statement that strongly criticized the United States. According to the statement, the South Korean and American joint drills exacerbated military tensions on the Korean peninsula, so the missile testing was justified as counteraction measures.
The statement said that the United States’ decision to move the USS Ronald Reagan to the Korean Peninsula posed a severe threat to stability in the area.
Naval Exercises among Three Countries, Part 2
Subsequently, the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul announced the continuation of a naval drill involving preparation for a fictitious ballistic missile strike by North Korea.
The USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group returned to the East Sea exercise after completing bilateral exercises with South Korea from September 26-29 and a trilateral exercise with Japan on September 30.
The JCS has announced that the Sejong, the Great Aegis destroyer of South Korea, and the JS Chokai destroyer of Japan will participate in a defense drill designed to perfect the detection, tracking, and interception of hostile fire.
Emboldened
Prof. Park Won-gon of South Korea’s Ewha Woman’s University specializes in researching and writing about North Korea. He believes the country’s recent missile launches indicate that the North Korean leadership has gotten more confident and is no longer intimidated by US supercarriers.
Park says that North Korea is learning from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its interactions with the West, and its progress on its nuclear weapons. North Korea has taken advantage of the “international atmosphere and world politics right now, which Park argues is extremely advantageous to North Korea, to develop a nuclear weapon.
The JCS also said that a group of North Korean military planes, including eight fighter jets and four bombers, were seen flying in formation. The JCS reported that when the group headed south toward a buffer zone, the South Korean Air Force responded with an “overwhelming” force of 30 fighter jets. Even though the carrier strike group and destroyers were conducting an exercise in waters to the east, there was a brief moment of tension.
Roh and Kim
Tokyo and Seoul, October 6 (Reuters) – north korea fires ballistic missilese at Japan on Thursday, after the return of a US aircraft carrier and a UN Security Council meeting in reaction to the North’s previous launches.
That was North Korea’s Tuesday, when it launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan, prompting joint missile, during which one weapon fell and burned. This is the sixth time in the short timeframe, just counting the ones from the end of September.
About an hour before the launch, North Korea had criticized the United States for briefing the United Nations Security Council on Pyongyang’s “just counteraction measures by the Korean People’s Army on south Korea-U.S. joint maneuvers,” implying that the North’s missile launches are in response to the alliance military moves.
When North Korea launched an IRBM over Japan, the United States immediately redeployed the supercarrier Ronald Reagan and the strike group of accompanying warships. The US accused China and Russia of aiding North Korean leader Kim Jong UN by stalling UN Security Council sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
North Korea launches three more short-range missiles.
Local media claimed on Friday that North Korea had fired three more short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, seemingly in retaliation to the current joint air drills between South Korea and the US, which have heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Yonhap News Agency reported, citing a statement from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, that you had fired the missiles from Koksan County in North Hwanghae Province on Thursday night. That was Pyongyang’s second missile launch of the day; earlier on Thursday morning, they launched an ICBM in addition to two shorter-range missiles.
An extremely risky and erroneous option, Pak warned.
The US and South Korea’s irresponsible decision pushes the situation created by provocative alliance military acts into an unmanageable phase, he continued.
SEOUL—
As South Korea concluded its annual military exercises on Friday, North Korea fires ballistic missilese
Seoul’s military said it launched the missiles between 11:59 a.m. and 12:18 p.m. local time from the county of Tongchon on North Korea’s east coast. They traveled about 143 miles, reached heights of around 15 miles, and splashed down in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The situation on Korean Peninsula has been exacerbated this week after reports of gunfire between two countries along their maritime border. South Korea is currently in the midst of its annual military exercises, which began on Monday and will continue through Wednesday. The activities are meant to help the country deal with the missile and nuclear threats posed by North Korea. Thursday marked the end of joint naval exercises between the United States and South Korea. North Korea has said many times that military drills are hostile and dangerous.
