North Korea fired three missiles on Wednesday, including one believed to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, after US President Joe Biden ended a trip to Asia in which he accepted new measures to deter state with nuclear weapons.
South Korea’s deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo said the North also appears to have conducted “multiple experiments” with a detonator in preparation for its seventh nuclear test, but that it is not enough. the test is likely to take place “in the next few days”. but then “.
In response, the United States and South Korea conducted combined real-fire drills, including surface-to-surface missile testing with the U.S. Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the South Hyunmoo-2 SRBM. , said both military.
In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, South Korea’s chief of defense called for the deployment of U.S. strategic assets, and both sides agreed to strengthen expanded U.S. deterrence to counter provocations. from the North, said the Seoul Ministry of Defense.
“Our army’s display of strength was intended to highlight our determination to respond firmly to any provocation from North Korea, including the launch of an ICBM, and our overwhelming ability and willingness to carry out a surgical attack on the “The source of the provocation,” said South Korea’s joint leaders. Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
Missile launch missile
North Korea has conducted a series of missile launches this year, from hypersonic weapons to launch tests of its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time in almost five years. It also looks like it is preparing for what would be its first nuclear test since 2017.
Washington and Seoul officials had recently warned that North Korea seemed ready for another arms test, possibly during Biden’s visit, which was his first trip to Asia as president and included a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul.
JCS said the three missiles were fired on Wednesday in less than an hour from the Sunan area of the northern capital, Pyongyang, where its international airport has become a missile test center.
The first missile appeared to be the largest ICBM in the North, the Hwasong-17, while a second unspecified missile appears to have failed in mid-flight, South Korea’s deputy national security adviser Kim Tae- hyo. The third missile was a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), a test that is believed to be aimed at improving its nuclear delivery capability, he said.
A military source in Seoul told Reuters that the second and third missiles were believed to be SRBM KN-23s, which were first tested in 2019 and that experts said they were designed to evade the defenses of missiles flying in a lower and “depressed” trajectory.
“We believe he had political intentions, to test the security preparation of our new administration … and to send a strategic message to South Korea and the United States after President Biden left,” Kim said in a briefing.
Larger military exercises
In Seoul over the weekend, Biden and Yoon agreed to conduct larger military exercises and deploy more U.S. strategic assets if necessary to deter North Korea’s intensification of arms tests.
They also offered to send vaccines against COVID-19 to North Korea, which is fighting its first confirmed outbreak, and urged Pyongyang to return to diplomacy.
But there has been no response from Pyongyang to diplomatic openings or offers of help, Biden said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, in front, arrives on Wednesday to attend the National Security Council meeting at the Seoul presidential office. (Ahn Jung-won / Yonhap / The Associated Press)
Yoon, who took office on May 10, convened its first meeting of the national security council, which strongly condemned the latest release as a “grave provocation,” noting that Biden was on a return trip.
“North Korea’s continued provocations will only lead to a stronger and faster deterrence between South Korea and the United States, and it will isolate itself,” the Yoon government said in a separate statement.
A White House official said Biden, who left Japan on Tuesday evening, had been informed of the releases. A State Department spokesman issued a statement urging the North to “refrain from further provocations and engage in a sustained and substantive dialogue.”
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed in a phone call to intensify efforts to strengthen the expanded deterrent and facilitate a new resolution of sanctions on the United States. ‘UN,’ said the Seoul ministry.
Demonstration of strength
South Korea had described Pyongyang’s Hwasong-17 test in March as a failure, and the launch put an end to its 2017 self-imposed moratorium on long-range missiles and nuclear tests amid stalled denuclearization talks with Washington.
In Wednesday’s test, the alleged ICBM flew 360 km at an altitude of 540 km, while the SRBM flew 760 km at an altitude of 60 km, JCS said.
South Korean Air Force F-15K fighters take an elephant ride to an unidentified air base in South Korea on Tuesday. (South Korean Ministry of Defense / The Associated Press)
Japan reported at least two launches, one of which flew about 300 km and reached a maximum altitude of 550 km, and the other at a distance of about 750 km and a maximum altitude of 50 km. say the Japanese Minister of Defense.
Japanese Cabinet Secretary-General Hirokazu Matsuno said the North could take more provocative action, including a nuclear test.
The U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific command said it was aware of the “multiple” launches. They highlighted the “destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s illicit weapons program”, but did not pose an immediate threat.
The waning hours of Biden’s visit to the region also saw Russian and Chinese bombers jointly patrolling near Japanese and South Korean air defense zones on Tuesday in a timely farewell.