Putin is happy. Media about North Korea’s missile launch in Japan

North Korea, which has declared itself a nuclear power, has launched several ballistic missiles in the past two weeks.

North Korea continues its series of missile tests. On October 6, Pyongyang launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of ​​Japan. One of the rockets flew 350 kilometers at a maximum height of 80 kilometers, the second – 800 kilometers at a maximum height of 60 kilometers.

Thursday’s missile launch came about an hour after North Korea condemned the United States in connection with its appeal to the UN Security Council, Reuters reported. Pyongyang said it considered the missile launch a “fair” move to counter US-South Korean joint exercises, believing their maneuvers are raising tensions in the region.

North Korea also condemned the United States for moving the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. Before this, the ship arrived in South Korea for the first time in four years and took part in joint naval maneuvers of South Korean and American troops. The aircraft carrier is expected to be involved in exercises by South Korea and Japan in international waters.

South Korea’s military called the latest missile launch a “serious provocation” and said it “threatens not only peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, but also the international community.” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called North Korea’s repeated missile launches in such a short period of time “totally unacceptable.”

The launch is the sixth in the past two weeks since North Korea declared itself a nuclear power. On October 4, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that traveled about 4,500 kilometers over Japan and fell into the Pacific Ocean. More on this in the Nuclear Provocation article.

In response, the US and South Korea conducted military exercises, including two test launches of surface-to-surface missiles each. American and South Korean ATACMS missiles are directed towards the Sea of ​​Japan.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that if North Korea continues to “follow its chosen path,” then “it will only increase the condemnation, isolation and measures that will be taken in response to their actions.”

Following North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch, the United States sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the waters off the Korean Peninsula. Correspondent.net collected the reaction of the international press.

Can North Korean Missiles Reach the Continental US?

Wall Street Journal, USA

The Hwaseong-15 missile has the potential to hit anywhere in the US, according to a US military assessment of Korea… Missile experts estimate its range at 8,100 miles and say a North Korean ICBM could hit the US mainland in less than 30 minutes after launch. Pyongyang is located more than five thousand miles from the US West Coast.

In January 2021, Kim set a goal to increase the range to about 9.3 thousand miles. Full-scale tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in March 2022 demonstrated such a potential range…

North Korea has a diverse arsenal of ballistic missiles. Most of North Korea’s tests in recent years have aimed to boost shorter-range missiles, many of which could be nuclear, weapons experts say. Pyongyang has claimed success in launching missiles from submarines and trains, as well as the ability to maneuver missiles to avoid US or South Korean air defenses.

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Many of the more recently introduced rockets are solid rather than liquid fuel, making the weapon more mobile and often faster to deploy.

But ICBMs currently rely on liquid propellants, which means they must be accompanied by a convoy of vehicles to deliver and refuel before launch, making them easier to detect and potentially intercept.

According to the US intelligence community’s annual threat assessment released in March, North Korea remains “a disruptive player in the regional and global arena.”

Don’t underestimate the risk

Poland

It has happened that the North provoked an escalation, threatened war, used bombs and missiles, and then “heroically” prevented a global conflict and began to vigorously advance its demands … Now things are like that that, due to Russia’s blocking of the UN, no new sanctions can be imposed …

Demonstrative military maneuvers are possible, such as overflights by the US Air Force or South Korea near the borders of the DPRK. But now the game is getting more dangerous. Mistakes are easy to make, including misinterpreting the opponent’s moves, which can have disastrous consequences. Under such conditions, blackmail can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Kim Jong Un is feeling stronger than ever

Germany, Deutschlandfunk

Dictator Kim [продолжает] shamelessly arming nuclear weapons and missiles to directly threaten the US mainland. The hope is that, following Pakistan, the United States will recognize North Korea as a nuclear power and lift UN sanctions.

Kim may not be afraid of new sanctions – China and Russia will block such decisions in the UN Security Council. Their presidents, Xi and Putin, are watching with glee as the US, Japan, and South Korea fail to counter this North Korean strategy.

Nuclear strike by Russia. How will the US and NATO respond?

The Allies are completely unnecessary for a hot war on the Korean Peninsula. So they have no choice but to helplessly let Kim do whatever he wants.

North Korea is trying to legalize the missile launch

Washington Post, USA

North Korea’s consistent and persistent claim that its missile launches are in response to joint US-South Korean exercises is part of North Korea’s long-term strategy to equate their illegal provocations with the joint that Washington-Seoul military exercise, Go Myung-hyun said. at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

Guo added that the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s statement on Thursday “exactly corresponds to a message designed to convey the notion that drills and provocations are equivalent, but in fact they are not.”

It is necessary to respond with punishments and threats

Times, Britain

An example of this is the harsh sanctions that in 2015 were able to force Iran to sit at the negotiating table. At the same time, the Biden administration should continue military exercises with its allies in the region – and provide those allies with effective support.

A deterrence strategy is a long-term strategy with no guarantee of success. But the main premise of a peaceful world order is to prevent the misjudgment of the aggressor and to punish every violation of international agreements. This is the only reasonable position considering the totalitarian regime in Pyongyang, which is still looking for fights.

Carte blanche for Kim

France

Pyongyang is also doing its best not to provoke China, its traditional partner. In a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, Kim Jong-un called relations with Beijing “an invincible friendship.”

Putin threatened with nuclear weapons. Will he apply for it?

Against this background, it seems unlikely that Moscow and Beijing will vote for sanctions against Pyongyang in the UN Security Council. This gives North Korea carte blanche to continue developing nuclear weapons and missiles.

The threat of North Korea brings the US, Japan and South Korea closer together

Japan Times, Japan

While Pyongyang has traditionally sought to drive a wedge between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul, its belligerent rhetoric and numerous provocations could have the opposite effect.

North Korea’s weapons test has brought the US and its key Asian allies closer together, as Japan and South Korea put aside long-standing political differences – at least for now – to focus on mutual security interests.

“After several years of non-communication due to political differences, Japanese-Korean defense relations have increasingly followed a converging trajectory since the inauguration of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in May,” said John Bradford, military expert and former country director for Japan in the office of the US Secretary of Defense.