Ajit Karn
North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday, according to Seoul’s military, its fourth display of force in a week as South Korea and the United States conduct large-scale military exercises.
Faced with mounting military and nuclear threats from the North, which has conducted a succession of increasingly provocative and illegal weapons tests in recent months, Seoul and Washington have increased their defence cooperation.
The United States and South Korea are in the midst of 11 days of joint exercises known as Freedom Shield, which are their longest in five years.
The North Korean government has repeatedly warned that it will take “overwhelming” action in response to any such drills.
“At 11:05 a.m. (0205 GMT), our military detected one short-range ballistic missile launched from the Tongchang-ri region of North Pyongan province towards the East Sea,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea stated, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
The missile travelled 800 kilometres (500 miles) and was being analysed by US and South Korean intelligence, the JCS said in a statement, labelling the launch “a grave provocation” that violated United Nations sanctions.
“Our military will maintain a solid posture of readiness based on its ability to respond decisively to any provocation by North Korea, while conducting intensive and comprehensive combined exercises and drills,” the document stated.
Tokyo also verified the launch, with deputy defence minister Toshiro Ino telling reporters that Japan had “strongly protested and condemned” North Korea via its embassy in Beijing.
The Indo-Pacific Command of the United States military condemned the launch, citing “the destabilising impact” of North Korea’s prohibited weapons programmes.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense announced hours after the launch that it had conducted joint aviation exercises with the United States, which included at least one B-1B long-range bomber.
As part of the Freedom Shield exercise, South Korean F-35A stealth fighter aircraft and American F-16 fighters participated in the exercises. The exercise “greatly improved the interoperability… and wartime capabilities of the allies,” according to a ministry statement.
– “War lunatics” –
The most recent launch occurred one day after North Korean state media reported that over 800,000 young North Koreans had volunteered to fight “US imperialists”
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the youthful volunteers joined the army to “defend the country” and to “ruthlessly eradicate the war maniacs.”
Pyongyang tested its largest and most potent intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17, for the second time this year on Thursday. The launch was characterised as a reprisal to the “frantic” US-South Korea exercises.
At the request of the United States and Japan, the UN Security Council is anticipated to conduct an emergency meeting regarding the ICBM launch on Monday, according to Yonhap news agency.
In a statement relayed by KCNA on Sunday, the North’s foreign ministry issued a “strong” warning to the United States and other nations, urging them to include “legitimate self-defensive countermeasures of the DPRK for UNSC discussion.” DPRK is the acronym for the official name of North Korea.
Analysts had previously predicted that North Korea would use the exercises as a pretext to conduct additional missile launches and possibly a nuclear test.
The ICBM launch followed two short-range ballistic missile launches on Tuesday and two submarine-launched strategic cruise missile launches on Sunday.
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The recent escalation in aggression by Pyongyang has prompted Seoul and Tokyo to attempt to reconcile historical rifts and strengthen security cooperation.
Thursday, just hours after the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Japan for the first comprehensive summit between the two countries in 12 years.
Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul stated that the recent missile deployments served multiple purposes, including protesting the joint exercises and testing trilateral responses from South Korea, the United States, and Japan.
North Korea declared itself a “irreversible” nuclear power last year, and its leader, Kim Jong Un, recently called for a “exponential” increase in the production of weapons, including nuclear tactical weapons.
This month, Kim also ordered the North Korean military to intensify war games in preparation for a “real war.”
