A man walks past a television report showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on October 6, 2022. –
Anthony Wallace | AFP | Getty Images
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters on Sunday, the latest in a recent flurry of weapons tests, a day after it warned the redeployment of a US aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula raised regional tensions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that they detected two rocket launches on Sunday between 1:48 a.m. and 1:58 a.m. from the northern coastal city of Munchon. It added that South Korea’s military has strengthened its surveillance posture and is maintaining a readiness in close coordination with the United States.
Japan’s Vice Defense Minister Toshiro Ino also confirmed the launches, saying Pyongyang’s test activities are “absolutely unacceptable” as they threaten regional and international peace and security.
Ino said the weapons could be submarine-launched ballistic missiles. “We are continuing to analyze details of the missiles, including a possibility that they may have been launched from the sea,” Ino said.
North Korea’s pursuit of the ability to launch missiles from a submarine will represent an alarming development for its rivals because it is more difficult to detect such launches in advance. North Korea was believed to have last tested a missile launch from a submarine in May.
The South Korean and Japanese militaries estimated that the missiles flew about 350 kilometers (217 miles) and reached maximum altitudes of 90 to 100 kilometers (56 to 60 miles) before falling in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida separately instructed officials to gather and analyze all the information they could and expedite any updates on the tests to the public. His office said it was also trying to ensure the safety of all aircraft and ships in waters around Japan as they prepare for any contingencies.
U.S. The Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launches posed no immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or its allies. But it said the launches highlight “the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s illicit weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. It said US commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan remain “ironclad”.
The launch, the North’s seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks, came hours after the US and South Korea wrapped up two days of naval exercises off the Korean peninsula’s east coast.
The drills involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group, which returned to the area after North Korea fired a powerful missile over Japan last week to protest the carrier group’s earlier training with South Korea.
On Saturday, North Korea’s Defense Ministry warned that Reagan’s redeployment caused a “significantly large negative splash” in regional security. The ministry called its recent missile tests a “just response” to frightening military exercises between South Korea and the United States.
North Korea views US-South Korean military exercises as an invasion exercise and is particularly sensitive if such exercises involve US strategic assets such as an aircraft carrier. North Korea has claimed it was forced to pursue a nuclear weapons program to counter US nuclear threats. US and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no intention of attacking the North.
North Korea has launched more than 40 ballistic and cruise missiles in more than 20 separate incidents this year, using a UN Security Council rift deepened over Russia’s war on Ukraine as a window to speed up weapons development.
A record number of tests included last week’s launch of a nuclear-capable missile that flew over Japan for the first time in five years. It was estimated to have traveled around 4,500-4,600 kilometers (2,800-2,860 miles), a distance sufficient to reach the US Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.
South Korean officials say Pyongyang could soon get ahead of itself by carrying out an intercontinental ballistic missile or a nuclear test, following a traditional pattern of manufacturing diplomatic crises with weapons tests and threats before offering negotiations aimed at extracting concessions. There are also concerns about provocations along Korea’s land and sea borders.
Sunday’s launches came on the eve of the 77th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party.
Earlier this year, North Korea tested other nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that put the US mainland, South Korea and Japan within striking distance.
North Korea’s testing indicates that its leader, Kim Jong Un, has no intention of resuming diplomacy with the United States and wants to focus on expanding his weapons arsenal. But some experts say Kim will eventually aim to use his advanced nuclear program to extract major outside concessions, such as the recognition of North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state, which Kim believes is crucial to getting crippling UN sanctions lifted.
South Korean officials recently said North Korea was also prepared to test a new liquid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile and a submarine-launched ballistic missile as it maintains readiness to carry out its first underground nuclear test since 2017.
Watch: Tensions with North Korea are getting worse
