North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Friday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of weapons tests that may culminate in a nuclear test according to Washington and Seoul.
These launches coincide with the end of 12 days of amphibious naval exercises by South Korea and the United States and take place a few days before air exercises begin on Monday that will mobilize more than 200 fighter planes from these two countries.
These initiatives often infuriate the regime led by Kim Jong Unwhich considers them drills for an eventual invasion and usually responds with “countermeasures” such as these shots.
The South Korean military said it had “detected two ballistic missiles fired from the Tongchon area of Gangwon between 1159 (0259 GMT) and 1218,” referring to a province on North Korea’s east coast.
“Our military has increased monitoring and surveillance and remains in full readiness in close coordination with the United States,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
With negotiations on the peninsula long stalled, tensions have risen this year over a series of military tests by the country led by Kim Jong Un, who recently declared its status as a nuclear power “irreversible.”
Authorities in the United States and South Korea have been warning for months that Kim is preparing a new nuclear test, which would be the seventh in the country’s history and the first since 2017.
On Tuesday, the South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol said that the North had everything ready for this test.
“It seems that they have already completed the preparations for their seventh nuclear test,” he said during a parliamentary speech.
On Wednesday, the United States, Japan and South Korea warned that such a test would be met with a “response of unprecedented force.”
– Blockade at the UN –
This month, North Korea fired several artillery rounds at a “buffer zone” on the maritime border that the two countries had agreed in 2018 to keep out of any hostilities.
He also acknowledged conducting “tactical nuclear exercises” simulating an attack on South Korea.
North Korean state media also published an unusual series of military statements condemning “the enemy’s war games” and calling for them to cease.
Since the arrival of Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea increased joint military exercises with the United States, which recently deployed a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the area, and with Japan.
Analysts consider that Pyongyang wants to take advantage of the blockade between the great powers of the United Nations Security Council to speed up the modernization of its weapons.
At a recent council meeting to discuss a North Korean missile launch that flew over Japan, China, Pyongyang’s main ally, accused the United States of provoking the series of firings.
For months this instance has been divided on how to respond to the actions of the communist country: China and Russia empathize with Kim Jong Un and the rest of the council asks to increase the existing sanctions against the country.
