North Korea launched a volley of short-range ballistic missiles early this morning, South Korean armed forces announced. This marks the second weapons test in five days, coming just hours before the U.S. presidential elections are set to begin.
The launch of “short-range ballistic missiles” towards the East Sea, as it is called on the Korean Peninsula (also known as the Sea of Japan), was detected at 7:30 a.m. local time (00:30 a.m. ESST), reported South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In anticipation of “further launches,” South Korean armed forces “reinforced their surveillance and vigilance,” added the headquarters in Seoul, stating they are sharing information with Tokyo and Washington.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba confirmed to reporters the launch of “ballistic missiles” which “are believed to have fallen outside” Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Last Thursday, North Korea, a country possessing nuclear weapons, announced that it had tested its new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with solid fuel, the most advanced it has developed.
This was the first show of force of this type from North Korea after being accused by Ukraine, its Western allies, and Seoul of sending thousands of soldiers to Russia.
The launch took place just hours after U.S. and South Korean defence ministers demanded that Pyongyang withdraw its troops from Russian territory, as, according to the Pentagon, around 10,000 are preparing to participate in operations against Ukrainian armed forces, who have been at war with the Russian military since February 2022.
This past Sunday, South Korea, Japan, and the United States conducted a joint air exercise with the participation of a strategic bomber in response to the ICBM launch.
The drills involved a U.S. B-1B bomber, South Korean F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets, and Japanese F-2 fighters.
Such military exercises always provoke North Korea’s anger, as it perceives them as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory.
For Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, these drills were further evidence “of the aggressive nature of the most hostile and dangerous adversary” to her country, “absolute proof of the validity and urgency of the nuclear development strategy (…) that we have chosen and are implementing,” according to the official North Korean news agency KCNA.
She also warned that any major shift in the “balance of power (…) on the Korean Peninsula would mean war.”
Experts believe that Pyongyang’s series of weapons tests could be an attempt to divert attention from the alleged deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, which has caused concern as the U.S. elections approach.
Russia and North Korea, both viewing the U.S. as an existential threat, have strengthened their ties since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The two countries signed a defence agreement during the Russian president’s visit to Pyongyang in June, stating that each will defend the other in case of attack.
Ukraine and its Western allies have long claimed that North Korea supplies the Russian military with ammunition—shells and missiles. Now, according to the Pentagon, thousands of North Korean soldiers have also been sent to Russia to train and fight against Ukraine alongside the Russian military.
South Korea, a major arms exporter, is now considering sending equipment directly to Ukraine as a form of retaliation, despite Seoul’s longstanding policy of not supplying weapons to nations involved in active conflicts.
North Korea has neither confirmed nor denied the presence of its military units in Russia; however, in the first official comment published by state media at the end of October, a deputy foreign minister stated that if such deployment occurred, it would comply with international law.
Source: ANA-MPA [translated]
