6th October, 2022
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday in the direction of Japan, after the return of a U.S. aircraft carrier.
This is North Korea’s response to the UN Security Council meeting against recent launches.
The missile launch was the sixth in 12 days and the first since North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan on Tuesday, which prompted joint South Korean and U.S. missile drills during which one weapon crashed and burned.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Japanese government reported today’s launch.
“This is the sixth time in a short period, just counting the ones from the end of September,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.
“This absolutely cannot be tolerated,” he added.
The launch came about an hour after North Korea condemned the United States for talking to the United Nations Security Council about Pyongyang’s “just counteraction measures of the Korean People’s Army on South Korea-U.S. joint drills,” suggesting its missile tests are a reaction to the allied military moves.
In a statement released by the reclusive nation’s foreign ministry, North Korea also condemned Washington for repositioning a U.S. aircraft carrier off the Korean peninsula, saying it posed a serious threat to the stability of the situation.
The USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group of accompanying warships were abruptly redeployed in response to North Korea’s IRBM launch over Japan.
Tokyo lodged a “vehement protest” with North Korea over Thursday’s launches through delegations in Beijing, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.
The first missile on Thursday likely flew to an altitude of about 100 km and a range of 350 km, while the second one had an estimated altitude of 50 km (31.07 miles) and covered 800 km, likely flying in an irregular trajectory, he said.
Many of North Korea’s most recent short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) are designed to fly on a lower, depressed trajectory and potentially manoeuvre, complicating efforts to detect and intercept them.
“North Korea has relentlessly and unilaterally escalated its provocation, especially since the beginning of this year,” Hamada told reporters.
South Korea’s JCS said the missiles were launched from near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
North Korea has launched about 40 missiles this year. Its record schedule began in January with the launch of a new “hypersonic missile”.
The nation went on to include long-range cruise missiles; SRBMs fired from rail cars, airports, and submarines; its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches in 2017, and the IRBM shot over Japan.
It also appears ready to conduct a nuclear test for the first time since 2017, according to officials in Seoul and Washington.
Reuters/NAN