SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward Japan on Monday in its second weapons test in three days that drew swift condemnation from its rivals and prompted Tokyo to call for an emergency United Nations Security meeting. Council. .
The gunfire follows the launch of an ICBM on Saturday and North Korea’s threats to mount an unprecedented response to US-South Korea military exercises that the North sees as a test for an invasion. Some experts say North Korea is pushing for more powerful weapons arsenals, which they say would increase leverage in potential negotiations with the United States.
South Korea’s military said it detected the two missile launches from a west coast city north of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang on Monday morning. Japan said both missiles landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone and there were no reports of damage involving aircraft and ships in the area.
According to Japanese and South Korean assessments, the North Korean missiles flew at a maximum altitude of 50–100 kilometers (30–60 mi) and a range of 340–400 kilometers (210–250 mi).
Both South Korea and Japan condemned the launches as a threat to international peace and a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions banning any ballistic activity by North Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that Tokyo had requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council to respond to recent North Korean airstrikes.
An initial meeting of the Security Council, chaired by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Khaled Khiari, was scheduled for months later.
It was unclear whether the UN council could pass tough international sanctions against North Korea, as China and Russia, two of the council’s veto powers embroiled in separate clashes with Washington, had already opposed US-led attempts last year to imposes new sanctions after the North launched dozens of ballistic weapons.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the missile launches highlight the “destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s illicit weapons programs. He said US commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan “remain strong”.
North Korean state media said long-range artillery units off its west coast fired two rounds into eastern waters early Monday, in what the South Korean military said was confirmation of activities the neighbors its northerners had previously reported them as missile launches. The official Korean Central News Agency said North Korean artillery shells simulated hitting targets up to 395 kilometers (245 miles) away.
The North said the launches involved its new 600mm multiple rocket launch system that could be armed with “tactical” nuclear weapons for use on the battlefield. South Korean officials viewed the weapon system as a short-range ballistic missile.
“The frequency of using the Pacific as a firing range depends on the nature of the action of US forces,” Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement carried by state media. “We are very aware of the movement of US forces’ strategic strike assets, (which have) recently become vigorous around the Korean peninsula.
He may be referring to the US flight of B-1B long-range supersonic bombers on Sunday for separate exercises with South Korea and Japan. The B-1B deployment came in response to North Korea’s launch of the Hwasong-15 ICBM off its east coast on Saturday in the country’s first missile test since January 1.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to the deployment of B-1B bombers, which can carry a huge payload of conventional weapons.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea could launch new provocations, such as more missile launches and nuclear tests.
North Korea’s state media said on Sunday that the ICBM test was meant to further boost its “lethal” nuclear strike capability and test the weapon’s reliability and combat readiness of the country’s nuclear force.
In her statement on Sunday, Kim Yo Jong threatened to take strong additional measures regarding future military exercises between the United States and South Korea.
North Korea has strongly criticized regular military exercises between South Korea and the United States as practice for an invasion of the North, although allies say their drills are defensive in nature. Some observers say North Korea often uses its rivals’ exercises as a pretext to refine and improve its weapons systems. They say North Korea would eventually like to gain international recognition as a legitimate nuclear state in order to lift international sanctions and receive other foreign concessions.
The South Korean and US militaries plan to hold a mass exercise this week to hone a joint response to a potential use of nuclear weapons by North Korea. The allies are also expected to conduct another joint computer-simulated exercise and field training in March.
Hours after Monday’s launch, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Seoul had imposed unilateral sanctions on four individuals and five institutions involved in illicit activities in support of the North’s development and diversion of nuclear weapons. Although the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has so far sanctioned 31 individuals and 35 organizations for supporting the North’s nuclear ambitions, such measures are seen as mostly symbolic given the lack of commercial activity between the rivals.
North Korea has said it has missiles capable of hitting both the US mainland and South Korea with nuclear weapons, but many foreign experts said North Korea still has some key technologies to master, such as small warheads, enough small to be mounted on rockets. and make sure these warheads survive atmospheric reentry.
In her statement on Monday, Kim Yo Jong reiterated that North Korea has the technology for re-entry vehicles. He also responded to South Korean experts who questioned whether North Korean ICBMs would be functional in actual war situations.
North Korea set an annual record in 2022 with more than 70 missile launches. North Korea has said many of these weapons tests were a warning from previous military exercises between the United States and South Korea. It also passed a law that allows it to preemptively use nuclear weapons in a wide range of scenarios.
Associated Press reporters Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed to this report.
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